Gynecological Cancer Awareness Among Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and determine the gynecological cancer awareness among women aged 20 and over and make recommendations according to the current situation. The study is a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study. The population of the study was composed of a total of 60.290 women aged over 20 years living in the city center of Gumushane according to TURKSTAT data for 2017. The sample consisted of a total of 382 women determined at 95% confidence interval. Personal information form and Gynecological Cancer Awareness Scale were used to collect the data. The mean age of the women was 39.07 ± 17.84. 48.6% of the participants had knowledge about gynecological cancers, and only 16.2% reached this information from healthcare personnel. It was determined that the women who were working, had an employed husband, had a high level of education, had a husband with high level of education, had no chronic disease, and had knowledge about gynecologic cancers were higher than the others. The awareness of the participants about gynecological cancer decreased as their ages, body mass index, the number of pregnancy and birth increased. The gynecological cancer awareness of the women increased with the increase in marriage age, the age of first sexual intercourse, and the age of first pregnancy. Early diagnosis of gynecological cancers with effective and common screening programs is very important in reducing mortality and morbidity rates. It is recommended to maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors, avoid risky behaviors, screen risky groups and ensure women’s awareness for primary prevention.