Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about cervical cancer among women working in primary health care services in Van

Abstract

Introduction: This studyaimed to investigate the knowledge and behaviors of cervical cancer among womenworking in primary health care services in Van.Methods: Among the 194 women working in primary care settings, 164 (85.4%)completed a self-administered questionnaire containing questions on demographicknowledge, cervical cancer knowledge (eight questions), attitudes related tocervical cancer (two questions), and cervical cancer-related behaviors (twoquestions).Results: The mean age of the participants was 30.20±5.17 years. Of the women,53.7% (n=88) were university graduates and 54.0% (n=88) were single. The medianknowledge score of the participants was 6 (1stquartile 4; 3rdquartile6). Of the participants, 17.8% (n=29) had regular gynecological examination, andonly 19.2% (n=23) had a Pap smear test. The knowledge score of those with universitydegrees was higher than those with high school or lower education (Z=3.21;p=0.001), married women had higher knowledge scores compared to the single ones(Z=2.89; p=0.004), and those who had a Pap smear test had higher knowledgescores than those who did not (Z=2.85; p=0.004).Conclusions: Although the knowledge level of primary care health care providersabout cervical cancer and Pap smear was high, their practices were not inaccordance with the knowledge. On the other hand, considering that theparticipants were health workers, better results could be expected. Primarycare health professionals have a duty to transfer and implement preventivehealth services to society. Thus, it is regarded as useful to increasein-service training and improve the knowledge and behavior of women working inprimary health care services on cervical cancer.

Keywords

• serviks kanseri
• sağlık çalışanları
• pap smear
• aile hekimliği
• uterine cervical neoplasms
• healthcare workers
• papanicolaou test
• primary care