Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of University Faculty Members and High School Teachers About Cervical Cancer Screening in Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Background: Due to the increasing rate of cervical cancer screening, and the importance of teachers and faculties in changing the perspective of population on this issue, the present study was carried out to evaluate knowledge base, attitude and performance of teachers and faculty members in relation to cervical cancer screening test. Objectives: This study attempted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and performance of teachers and faculty members on cervical cancer screening test in Shiraz, Iran. Patients and Methods:The present cross-sectional survey was conducted on a community with high education level. The study was carried out on a sample of 417 randomly selected subjects involving 206 participants from high school teachers and 211 faculty members. Stratified random sampling method was used proportionate to the size, of the main population in each group. P value 0.05 was considered for estimating sample size. Valid and reliable questionnaires were completed via face to face interview. Data were analyzed using SPSS Software version 13. Results: Mean score of knowledge (4.78 ± 0.71) was higher in faculty members than female teachers (4.21 ± 1.16). There was no statistically significant difference in mean scores of knowledge (P value = 0.748) and attitude (P value = 0.704) between teachers of different age groups. Mean score of knowledge (P value = 0.001) and attitude (P value = 0.009) was significantly different among faculty members with different academic degrees. Although academics had higher Knowledge and attitude, the mean score of performance among teachers (18%) was higher than faculty members (16.6%). Conclusions: This study showed that in regard to screening of cervical cancer, there is no acceptable knowledge, attitude and performance level among faculty members and teachers in different zones of Shiraz.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in Relation to Cervical Cancer Screening among Female Employees at King Abdulaziz University

“…Furthermore, more educated women who have master's degree or higher had less knowledge than women with a high school and a university degree. Moreover, in a similar study conducted in Iran among university faculty members and high school teachers, professors had the highest mean scores of knowledge towards cervical cancer screening (Jahani, Ghahramani, &Abdollahifard, 2015). However, this was not in agreement with the results of the current study.These results may have emerged because the women who had a master's, a PhD or higher degrees are more focused and deep on their sub-specialties than those in a bachelor's or with a high school level.…”

“…Women had positive attitude toward cervical screening, Bahri and colleagues also mentioned positive attitudes amongst most of their sample (87.3%) (Bahri, Jajvandian, Bolandhemmat, &Mirzaiinajmabadi, 2015).Faculty members had significantly positive attitude toward cervical screening more than administrators.Besides, medical faculty members had significantly greater positive attitude than nonmedical faculty members. These results were consistent with the findings of the Iranian study (Jahani, Ghahramani, &Abdollahifard, 2015).The reason for such results might be because faculty member's particularly medical specialties believe on the importance of preventive measures more than other disciplines.Moreover, women with a high income tended to have significantly greater attitudes towards the cervical screening than those with low income. The reason for this result might be because women who had low family income may not be aware that cervical cancer screening is free of cost in our country, but because their financial constraints are a barrier they would have a negative attitude towards the screening because they can't afford its costs.…”