Abstract
The Papanicolaou (Pap) test has been shown to be effective in preventing cervical cancer. However, both the national and international literature shows that Pap testing has not reached the level of coverage desired. The objective of this study was to assess women's knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the Pap test and to investigate whether there are any associations between these three factors and the women's sociodemographic characteristics. Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in Floriano, Piauí. The study was conducted among 493 women between November 2009 and December 2010. A questionnaire with precoded questions was sed, and the responses were analyzed in terms of appropriateness in relation to the Pap test. The degrees of adequacy of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the Pap test were 36.7%, 67.2% and 69.6%, respectively. Among the main barriers against testing, absence of symptoms and a sense of embarrassment were the most notable. Women who visit doctors periodically had the most appropriate practices regarding the Pap test, but their knowledge of the procedure was poor. This suggests that these women were not receiving adequate information about the benefits of periodic testing.
Highlights
All of the women interviewed considered the test necessary, but only 67.1% had an appropriate attitude regarding the procedure, through expressing conscious recognition of its advantages and benefits and correctly indicating the reasons for periodically undergoing the test. Among those who had an appropriate attitude, 46.7% justified the need for the test as a means of preventing cervical cancer, and 20.5% justified the test as a means of preventing cancer but without specifying the type of cancer prevented (Table 2)
Our results showed that 75.9% of the participants claimed to have had a Pap test at least once in their lifetime, a rate lower than that reported for women in the cities of São Paulo (86.0%)[17] and Adequate knowledge n
Clearly, health professionals including physicians and nurses play an important role in shaping the knowledge, attitudes and practices of women with regard to the Pap test
Summary
The etiology of cervical cancer is directly related to persistent infection of the uterine cervix with human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes that have a high oncogenic potential.[5,6] HPV infection is considered to be a necessary but insufficient cause of development of neoplasms or their precursor lesions, because viral deoxyribonucleic acid is present in 99.7% of cervical cancer cases.[7,8,9]. This malignant neoplasm is one of many cancers with great potential for prevention and cure. This characteristic of the disease, combined with the relative ease of diagnosis, has allowed physicians to detect this cancer during its earliest stages, when treatment results in a high cure rate.[10,11] the infectious nature of cervical cancer’s etiological agent has made implementation of preventive measures possible, including active immunization against HPV genotypes with higher oncogenic potential.[7,11,12]
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