Awareness of cervical cancer screening among nursing staff in a tertiary institution of rural India
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Authors
Singh, Ekta
Seth, Shikha
Rani, Vidya
Srivastava, Dhiraj Kumar
Issue Date
2012-07-02
Type
Article
Language
en_US
Keywords
Cervical Cancer , Pap Smear , Screening Attitude
Alternative Title
Abstract
Objective:
To determine the baseline information about the knowledge of cervical cancer and explore attitude and practice of Pap smear screening among staff nurses.
Methods:
A pretested structured self administered questionnaire based survey was done on 205 staff nurses working in Rural Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Saifai, Etawah, containing mostly recognition and some recall type questions about demographics, knowledge about cervical cancer, its risk factors, screening techniques, attitudes towards cervical cancer screening and its practices.
Results:
In this study, 74% knew that Pap smear is used for detection of cervical cancer, but only 59% knew that it can detect both cancerous as well as precancerous lesions of the cervix. Only 18% of the respondents knew about human papillomavirus vaccine. A 47% of respondents had never taken a Pap smear; 63% never referred patients for the screening. Most nurses (79%) thought that a speculum examination and Pap smear are procedures to be performed by the doctors. Among all the respondents, only 11% had ever undergone a Pap smear on themselves.
Conclusion:
Despite knowledge of the gravity of cervical cancer and prevention by screening, attitudes and practices towards screening were negative.
Description
Citation
Singh, E., Seth, S., Rani, V., & Srivastava, D. K. (2012). Awareness of cervical cancer screening among nursing staff in a tertiary institution of rural India. Journal of gynecologic oncology, 23(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2012.23.3.141
Publisher
Journal of Gynecologic Oncology