Current Medicine Research and Practice (Jan 2013)
Cervical cancer screening from the perspective of a rural population of northern India
Abstract
Aim: To study a community’s attitudes to screening for cervical cancer in a rural area of Uttar Pradesh, India.Setting and design: Descriptive study in a rural community of Uttar Pradesh. Patients and Methods: Five hundred and eleven women were selected by a two-stage random sampling method. A structured schedule was used to collect data on the community’s awareness of cervical cancer and its views on a screening programme. Results: Of the total number of participants, 84.9% had a knowledge of cancer in general and 72.3% had a knowledge of cancer of the uterine cervix in particular. As many as 96.1% of the women expressed willingness to visit a government health centre to undergo screening. About 79.1% stated that their husbands would have no objection if they underwent screening. Overall, the community’s awareness of cervical cancer was good and the response to the idea of screening was positive. Conclusion: The study found that the community’s attitude was positive towards the screening programme for the prevention of cervical cancer. The findings will help in the implementation of the screening programme for cervical cancer.
