Knowledge of Pap screening and human papillomavirus among women attending clinics in Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

This study evaluated Pap screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge in a population of Colombian women as a possible contributing factor of low cervical cancer screening success. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional analysis of 454 women who were approached in five different hospitals and clinics throughout Medellín, Colombia. Of them, 449 females agreed to participate and answered a standardized face-to-face questionnaire regarding Pap screening and HPV knowledge. Using logistic regression, predictors of both Pap and HPV knowledge were examined. Overall, 76.3% of the participants exhibited a high level of Pap screening knowledge, while only 7.8% showed high level of HPV knowledge. Of the 449 women, 71.5% reported that it had been 1 year or less since their last Pap test, while 7.8% reported never having had a Pap test or not having had a recent test. Factors influencing Pap screening knowledge included education level and insurance; factors influencing HPV knowledge included education level and age. The high level of Pap screening knowledge and use do not explain the high cervical cancer rates in Colombia. The results of this study suggest that educational efforts should be focused on increasing women's knowledge and awareness of HPV in anticipation of the availability of HPV vaccines and HPV tests for screening.

National HPV Immunisation Programme: Knowledge and Acceptance of Mothers Attending an Obstetrics Clinic at a Teaching Hospital, Kuala Lumpur

“…Furthermore, only 15 % from the participants stated that HPV causes cervical cancer and 7 % knew that HPV was a virus or a sexually transmitted disease which can be transmitted during sexual intercourse with a man. The finding of this study also not incongruent with a study done by Hanisch et al (2007) who demonstrated that majority of the respondents (79.3%) were categorized into low knowledge on HPV. Only 7.8% of the respondents possessed high knowledge on HPV and 12.9% possessed medium knowledge on HPV.…”

“…Other study supported the lower education background reflect the lower knowledge on HPV. The result showed those who had elementary school education or less were 3.18 times higher for having lower knowledge on HPV (95% CI 1.82-5.57) (Hanisch et al, 2007).…”

Attitudes Towards Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination in the Latin American Andean Region

“…Middle or high socioeconomic class Colombian women are more likely to have a high knowledge of HPV than were those of low socioeconomic class (p = 0.002) [32]. The effect of high school or higher education on HPV knowledge is significant (p = 0.006) [32].…”

“…Knowledge of CC screening via Pap testing (97.6% of sampled women) did not translate into HPV knowledge [32]. In Arauca, Bogotá, Cartagena, and Manizales parents of daughters younger than 12 years old were resistant to HPV vaccination to prevent STI, and were concerned of sexual disinhibition, but would accept HPV vaccination to prevent CC [38].…”

Prevalencia de anormalidades de células epiteliales y factores asociados en mujeres de un municipio rural colombiano

“…En un estudio llevado a cabo en Medellín, se demostró que las mujeres tienen un buen conocimiento acerca de los beneficios del uso de la misma (27). Estas dos observaciones concuerdan con lo observado en México, en el que se demostró que el factor principal para la utilización del programa de detección temprana de cáncer es el conocimiento de la utilidad de la citología (28) e, indirectamente, sugieren que aspectos tales como las deficiencias en la calidad de la citología o las barreras en el acceso a los servicios de colposcopia y tratamiento pudieran explicar el hecho de que las tasas de mortalidad de cáncer de cuello uterino en Colombia permanezcan altas.…”