Swedish women's awareness of human papillomavirus, and health-related quality of life, anxiety, and depression after a notification of an abnormal Pap smear result: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

This study aims to assess (a) women's awareness of the human papillomavirus (HPV), (b) women's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, and (c) to compare the outcomes between women who are aware of the sexually transmitted nature of the HPV infection and women who are not. Swedish women who have been notified of an abnormal Pap smear result completed a questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic characteristics, items on awareness of HPV, and how to cope with the Pap smear result and the instruments: the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Cervical Dysplasia and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Student's t-test, χ-tests, Fisher's exact test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test. In total, 122 women participated. The women reported a median (quartile 1-quartile 3) score of 87.6 on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Cervical Dysplasia (81.8-107.0), compatible with a good HRQoL. The median (quartile 1-quartile 3) scores on HADS-anxiety and HADS-depression were 7.0 (4.0-10.0) and 3.0 (1.0-5.3), respectively; however, 48.4% of the women reported anxiety (compared with 20% in a normal population). There were no statistically significant differences in the median scores in any of the scales, including the prevalence of distress between the subgroups. Women with abnormal Pap smear results have a good HRQoL; they can become anxious, but not depressed. Awareness of HPV as a sexually transmitted infection is low, but being aware does not impact on women's HRQoL or on anxiety and depression.