Publication:

The knowledge, attitude, and action of Northern Iranian women about cervical cancer and screening

Background Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the world among women which its early diagnosis plays an important role in the prognosis. There are many factors that contribute to the participation in the screening programs, most notably the level of knowledge and attitude of people towards cancer. Understanding the level of these factors in the female population and its association with participation in screening programs is important. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of women in the north of Iran to compare these factors between two groups with different baseline knowledge.

Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out among female medical clients and healthcare staff in a healthcare center in the north of Iran. All the eligible patients were interviewed and were asked to fill a questionnaire containing the demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and action about cervical cancer and screening. The data were analyzed by SPSS v24.

Results A total of 283 females entered our study of which 156(55.1%) were clients of the healthcare center and 127(44.9%) were non-physician healthcare staff. Ninety (60.8%) of clients and 39(56.5%) of the staff have performed pap smear at least once (p=0.556). The levels of knowledge and attitude were significantly lower in the clients (p < 0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). There were no significant differences regarding the level of knowledge and attitude between those who performed pap smear and those who did not (0.621 and 0.788, respectively).

Conclusions Increasing awareness, especially improving attitudes in the female population, should be the focus of the health care system to encourage more women to participate in screening programs.