Pap Smear Examination Research Articles

HPV DNA status and clinical history of patients are supplements for accurate reporting of the cytological Pap smear

The present study was aimed at showing the importance of HPV DNA status and the clinical history of the patients required by the cytologist for accurate reporting. A total of 1250 symptomatic women who attended the gynaecology outpatient department of the Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Nalanda Medical College, Patna, for pap smear examinations were screened and recruited for the study. Due to highly clinical symptoms out of the negative with inflammatory smears reported, one hundred and ten patients were randomly advised for biopsy and HPV 16/18 DNA analysis by a gynaecologist to correlate negative smears included in the study. Pap smear reports revealed that 1178 (94.24%) were negative for intraepithelial lesions (NILM) with inflammatory smears, 23 (1.84%) smears showed low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), 12 (0.96%) smears showed high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and 37 (2.96%) smears showed an atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance (ASC-US). A biopsy of 110 out of 1178 (NILM) patients revealed that 15 (13.63%) women had cervical cancer, 29 women had CIN I, 17 women had CIN II + CIN III, 35 women had benign cervical changes, and 14 women had haemorrhages. On the other hand, HPV 16/18 DNA was detected as positive in 87 out of 110. The high positivity of HPV in biopsied cases where frank cervical cancer and at-risk cancer were also observed in the negative smear-screened patients reveals that the HPV status and clinical history of the patients will be quite helpful to the cytologist for accurate reporting, and suggests that a negative HPV DNA result may be a stronger predictor of cervical cancer risk than a negative Pap test.

Atypical glandular cells and predictive features of malignancy in Pap smears: A retrospective monocentric study.

The introduction of cytological screening with the Papanicolau smear significantly reduced cervical cancer mortality. However, Pap smear examination can be challenging, being based on the observer ability to decode different cytological and architectural features. This study aims to evaluate the malignancy rate of AGC (atypical glandular cells) category, investigating the relationships between cytological and histological diagnosis. Eighty-nine patients, diagnosed as AGC at cytological evaluation and followed up with biopsy or surgical procedure at Policlinico Gemelli Hospital, Rome, Italy, were included in the study. The cytopathological architectural (feathering, rosette formation, overlapping, loss of polarity, papillary formation, three-dimensional formation) and nuclear (N/C ratio, nuclear enlargement and hyperchromasia, mitoses, nuclei irregularity, evident nucleoli) features of AGC were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed to assess cyto-histological correlation and determine the relevance of architectural and nuclear features in the diagnosis of malignancy. Of the 89 AGC patients, 48 cases (53.93%) were diagnosed as AGC-NOS and 41 (46.07%) were diagnosed as AGC-FN, according to the Bethesda classification system. The follow-up biopsies or surgical resections revealed malignancy in 46 patients (51.69%). The rates of malignancy for AGC-NOS and AGC-FN were 35.41% and 70.73% respectively. Furthermore, analysing cytopathological features, we found that both architectural and nuclear criteria were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Only overlapping, nuclear irregularity and increased N/C ratio were not found to be statistically significant for detecting malignancy. Cytological diagnosis of glandular lesions remains a valid tool, when appropriate clinical correlation and expert evaluation are available.

Hubungan Rendahnya Pengetahuan Tentang Imunisasi Kanker Serviks Pada Wanita Usia Subur (WUS) Di RT 05 RW 02 Kelurahan Telaga Asih Bekasi Tahun 2023

Globocan data for 2020 recorded that the total cancer cases in Indonesia in 2020 reached 396,914 cases and the total deaths were 234,511 cases. Cervical cancer (cervix) ranks second with 36,633 cases or 9.2% of total cancer cases. One of the factors that contributes to the high incidence of cervical cancer in Indonesia is the lack of awareness and access to routine examinations and vaccinations. Cervical cancer is one of the cancers that can be prevented, namely by immunization with the HPV vaccine and early detection of cervical cancer with a Pap smear or IVA examination (visual inspection using acetic acid). The aim of this research is to analyze factors related to WUS knowledge about the low level of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) immunization in RT 05 RW 02, Telaga Asih Bekasi Village in 2023. The research method used is a cross sectional survey method. The population in this study was 50 female respondents of childbearing age in RT 05 RW 02. The sample was taken using a total sampling technique of 50 female respondents of childbearing age in RT 05 RW 02. Univariate analysis used frequency distribution and for bivariate tests used the Chi Square test. This research uses primary data from filling out questionnaires by respondents. Based on the results of the analysis of the 50 respondents, 31 people (62.0%) had the most good knowledge, 41 people aged 20-35 years (82.0%). There were 29 women whose parity was not at risk (58%), 29 people had at least high school education (58%), and 34 people got information sources electronically (68%). Variables related to knowledge are education and sources of information with a value of 0.000 &lt; 0.05. Meanwhile, variables that are not related are age and parity. It is hoped that this research will become a reference for increasing knowledge and an intensive approach to WUS. The results of this research can also be used as an opener to wider insight into midwifery and especially in the field of reproductive health.

Hubungan Self Efficacy, Peran Bidan, Dan Dukungan Suami Terhadap Pemeriksaan Pap Smear Pada PUS Di Rumah Sakit Tugu Ibu Depok

Introduction: Cervical cancer is still an issue that is often discussed in the world of health. Cervical cancer is the most common malignant tumor found in the reproductive organs. All women are at risk of suffering from this cancer especially women who are sexually active. Pap smear is a type of examination that can be done to identify cervical cancer. The prevalence of cancer in women in Indonesia in 2021 is 30.8% for breast cancer, 17.2% for cervical cancer, and 7% for ovarian cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between self-efficacy, the role of midwives, and husband's support for pap smear examinations at PUS at Tugu Ibu Hospital in Depok in 2022. Methods: This type of research used descriptive analytic with a cross-sectional approach. The sampling technique used is simple random sampling with a total of 53 respondents. Results: The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between self-efficacy (p-value 0,001); the role of the midwife (p-value 0,026); and husband's support (p-value 0,008) for pap smear examination in PUS at Tugu Ibu Hospital. Discussion: The conclusion is that there is a relationship between self-efficacy the role of midwives, and husband's support for pap smear examination at PUS at Tugu Capital Hospital in Depok City in 2023. Suggestions for couples of childbearing age to be able to increase self-efficacy by increasing understanding of the benefits and importance of Pap Semar examination through asking to health workers, attending counseling classes, health seminars or reading from trusted sources.

Combination of Image Enhancement and U-Net Architecture for Cervical Cell Semantic Segmentation

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of death in women and ranks fourth as a disease that occurs in women worldwide. Cervical cancer is a disease that is difficult to detect and can be detected when it is in an advanced stage. This requires early prevention by carrying out a pap-smear examination. Pap-smear examination manually requires a relatively long time, so a tool is needed by segmentation. Segmentation is image processing by performing perfection between the intended object and the background. One of the CNN methods commonly used in medical image segmentation is the U-Net architecture. Segmentation in this study was carried out on the nucleus and cytoplasm of the Herlev dataset using the U-Net architecture combined with data augmentation and image enhancement. In the learning process, this research resulted in a fairly high IoU value of 78% and an RMSE close to 20%. The results of this study also yielded an accuracy value of 89%, with an average precision, recall and F1 score of 89%, 89% and 88.67%, respectively. This shows that the combination of the CNN U-Net architecture with image quality improvement and data augmentation is quite good at segmenting cervical cells for the nucleus and cytoplasm

Doderlein’s cytolytic vaginosis: a camouflage of white discharge per vaginum in pregnancy: a case report

White discharge per vaginum (WDPV) in women is a routinely encountered gynaecological symptom in day today practice. Thorough history taking, per speculum and vaginal examination helps to identify the cause and also to further investigate it for pH and pap smear. The most frequent causes of WDPV are candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis. Interestingly lactobacillus/doderlein bacillus, a normal vaginal flora overgrow under the effects of oestrogen, can produce vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age group. Pap smear shows plenty of bare nuclei due to significant cytolysis of vaginal epithelial cells and lactobacillus overgrowth. The importance of vaginal discharge due to lactobacillus overgrowth is that it is refractory to routine medical management for other causes of vaginal discharge. We report doderlein cytolysis diagnosed by pap smear examination in a pregnant woman with history of vaginal discharge.

Relationship of Knowledge About Cervical Cancer and PAP SMEAR with Early Detection Behavior of PAP SMEAR

&lt;div&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="left" valign="top"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Cervical cancer is the third leading cause of death in Indonesia. Cervical cancer is usually only diagnosed when the cancer has entered an advanced stage. So the need for early detection as an effort to prevent cervical cancer. One of the most effective and commonly used methods to detect cervical cancer is Pap smear. The purpose of this study was to see the relationship between knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear with Pap smear early detection behavior. This study used analytic method with quantitative approach. The population of this study were all married women in Pancoran District, South Jakarta. Then, consecutive non-random sampling technique was used and 153 respondents were obtained with a questionnaire as a tool to obtain research data. Data collection was carried out from September to November 2023. Followed by analysis with the Chi-Square test using SPSS. Based on the results of the study, 58.2% of respondents have good knowledge and 72.5% of respondents have not done Pap smear examination from 158 respondents, there is no significant relationship between knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear with Pap smear early detection behavior (p-value=0.093). The conclusion of this study is that there is no relationship between knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear with early detection behavior of Pap smear in Pancoran District, South Jakarta. &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;For further research, it is recommended to provide insight into cervical cancer in depth so that readers are aware of the importance of early detection of cervical cancer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Keyword: Cervival cancer, Knowledge, Pap smear&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;

Mask region-based CNNs for cervical cancer progression diagnosis on pap smear examinations

This research presents a novel approach for cervical cancer detection and segmentation using tissue images with multiple cells. The study employs a novel deep learning architecture based on Mask Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) and statistical analysis. This new architecture enables us to achieve a high percentage of detection and pix-to-pix area segmentation. A mean Average Precision (mAP) higher than 60% for 3-class and 5-class was achieved. In addition, higher F1-scores of 70% for 3-class and 5-class were obtained. This investigation is a collaborative work, where a medical consultant collected the samples from the Papanicolaou (Pap) Smear examination and labeled the cells presented to the liquid-based cytology (LBC). Furthermore, the online available benchmark data set, SIPaKMeD, was also utilized. Additionally, sample images from the Mendeley data set were also labeled by the trained medical consultant for comparison. The proposed scheme automatically generates a full report for a medical consultant to identify the location of the malicious cells in the given images and expedite the diagnosis and treatment process.

TINGKAT PENGETAHUAN MITRA DAN KELUARGA TENTANG KANKER SERVIK DAN PEMERIKSAAN PAP SMEAR SEBAGAI DETEKSI DINI (SKRINING) KARSINOMA SERVIK

Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer suffered by women in developing countries, including Indonesia. This condition occurs due to lack of knowledge about prevention and detecting early symptoms of cervical cancer, especially in areas far from public health service centers. The purpose of this community partnership program is to help government programs to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer through counseling and interactive dialogue to increase the knowledge of partners and their families about cervical cancer and pap smears as screening for cervical cancer, which was carried out in the village of Gali Ukir Pupuan Tabanan, then carried out assisting partner family members in providing information about cervical cancer and pap smears to the surrounding community, as well as visits to monitor family members who are willing to carry out pap smears, and providing assistance in the form of pap smear examinations, giving antiseptics for the vagina, pocket books that can be used as guidelines for giving information about cervical cancer and its prevention, as well as providing a blender that can be used to make anti-septic from nearby plants and to make nutritious drinks to increase immunity. The results obtained are in the form of increased knowledge and changes in thinking patterns about cervical cancer and there are family members who do pap smear examinations.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION OF TRICHOMONAS VAGINITIS IN TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN KATHMANDU

Background: Cervical-vaginal infections are common problems in women of reproductive age groups. Trichomonas vaginalis is one of the major organisms causing vaginitis. Trichomonas vaginalis is an anerobic, flagellated protozoan. The main objective of this study was to study the clinical findings of women with Trichomonas vaginitis.&#x0D; Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive study carried out in the Department of Pathology and Gynaecology of Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital in one year (January- December 2020). A total of 163 Pap smear examination were included in study. Specimen were stained using conventional Papanicolaou method. After staining, slides were examined under the light microscopy. The cytological diagnosis was correlated with the clinical findings. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Mean, Standard deviation, frequencies and percentages were calculated.&#x0D; Results: A total of 163 cases were evaluated. The mean age of women who underwent Pap smear examination was 37.5 10.5 years. Out of 163 cases, there were 42 cases of Trichomonas vaginitis. The prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis was 25.8%. The common age group was 20 to 40 years. Most of the women were symptomatic (64.3%) while rest were asymptomatic (35.7%). Per vaginal discharge (35.7%) was the most common complain followed by vulval itching (16.7%).&#x0D; Conclusions: Trichomonas vaginalis are commonly found in reproductive age group presented with clinical manifestations or may be asymptomatic at all too. Vaginal discharge is the commonest presentation.

Vajinal İnfeksiyon ile Atipik Pap-smear Sonuçları Arasındaki İlişkinin Değerlendirilmesi

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the frequency of infectious agents in Pap-smear results and their association with pathological results. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted by evaluating the smear results between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 at the Tuzla State Hospital. Smear results were classified according to the Bethesda system [normal, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), atypical squamous cells-high-grade (ASC-H), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), atypical glandular cells (AGC) carcinoma]. In addition, vaginitis agents (Trichomonas vaginalis, Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida spp., Actinomyces spp.) found in the report were also recorded separately. Results: In the study, as a result of the evaluation of 4708 smear results, a vaginal infectious agent was found in 675 patients (16.55%). G. vaginalis was observed most frequently in 322 patients (7.9%), and the Candida spp. was observed in 298 patients (7.3%). Actinomyces spp. was observed in eight patients and T. vaginalis was observed in two patients. Pathology results were normal in 4129 (87.7%) according to the 2014 Bethesda system. Five hundred and fifty (11.68%) of them were ASC-US, nine (0.19%) ASC-H, 17 (0.36%) LSIL, and three (0.06%) were reported as HSIL. G. vaginalis was accompanied in 29 of the ASC-US results, and Candida spp. accompanied 10. Candida spp. was observed in 2 of 9 patients diagnosed with ASC-H, and G. vaginalis was observed in one of them. G. vaginalis was found in 1 of 17 patients diagnosed with LSIL, and no infection was found in three patients diagnosed with HSIL. Conclusion: Routine Pap-smear examination is essential for identifying cervicovaginal infectious agents as well as cervical pathologies.

Factors That Influence Early Detection of Cervical Cancer: VIA Examination OMPHE (Obedient Male Partner in Health-Education and Engagement) Model

In Indonesia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer. The low level of VIA examinations by women is due to several internal and external factors. This study determines the factors that influence the early detection of cervical cancer. The update in this research is with the high cost of Pap smear examination, a model that is more effective in detecting cervical cancer is created. The type of research used is analytic observational with cross-sectional design. The research subjects were husband and wife couples in the working area of 7 selected sub-districts in Padang City who met the inclusion criteria and were selected as research subjects. The sampling technique is multi-stage random sampling, which is sampling starting from random districts and villages. Then, at the Kelurahan level, the sample is taken by means of simple random sampling. Univariate analysis was used to obtain an overview of the frequency distribution and the percentage of each variable to be studied. Bivariate analysis was used to determine the relationship between each independent variable and the dependent variable. The results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship (p-value &lt; 0.05) between the husband's support, knowledge, and perception of the benefits of WUS's VIA examination. However, the respondents' age, education level, wife's occupation, husband's occupation, age of marriage, perceived vulnerability, perceived seriousness, and perceived barriers did not have a significant relationship with the VIA examination by WUS.

Pap smear-based cervical cancer detection using hybrid deep learning and performance evaluation

ABSTRACT Cervical cancer causes the abnormal growth of the cells at the cervix region of the woman’s uterus. It is the second most common type of cancer after the breast cancer seen in women. Detection of cervical cancer at the early stage is vital. Various screening methods like Pap smear, Colposcopy and HPV testing are carried out for the detection of cervical cancer. The possible screening techniques to diagnose cervical cancer include the visual inspection of the cervix (VIA), Pap smear examination (cytology), Colposcopy, Biopsy and HPV-DNA detection. All these techniques need the involvement of an expert doctor and/or pathologist. Also, a cancer diagnosis is a subjective process where the experience and training of pathologists are significant factors. Intelligent and automated screening systems will be helpful in such scenarios. This paper presents the methodology for cervical cancer prediction based on pap smear images. Pre-trained deep neural network models are used for feature extraction and different machine-learning (ML) models are trained on extracted features. In the proposed methodology, four pre-trained models such as Alexnet, Resnet-18, Resnet-50 and Googlenet are fine-tuned for feature extraction followed by the different ML algorithms. Among these simple logistic regression, the algorithms have performed best with the highest accuracy of 95.14% with the Alexnet pre-trained model.

EDUKASI KESEHATAN UNTUK PEREMPUAN USIA SUBUR SEBAGAI UPAYA DETEKSI DINI KANKER SERVIKS DI SIDOADI, BIRU-BIRU, DELI SERDANG

Cervical cancer can be prevented using early detection. One method of early detection that is suitable for developing countries like Indonesia is to use the Acetic Acid Visual Inspection (IVA) method. Cervical cancer can actually be prevented using primary prevention such as increasing or intensifying outreach activities in the community by adopting a healthy lifestyle, avoiding risk factors for getting cancer. Immunization uses the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and follows early recognition of cervical cancer by carrying out pap smears or visual pain using acetic acid (Vetricia Zach, 2018). Currently the scope of cervical cancer detection in Indonesia through pap smears and IVA is still very low low, approximately 5%, whereas the coverage of early detection is effective in inhibiting morbidity and mortality due to cervical cancer, which is 85% (Saslow, et al, 2015). IVA is a screening test for cervical cancer using 3-5% acetic acid in an inspector and can be reviewed exclusively (WHO, 2018). according to the results of the diagnostic test, IVA examination had a sensitivity of 84%, a specificity of 89%, a positive predictive value of 87%, a negative predictive value of 88. for a Pap smear examination, a sensitivity of 55%, a specificity of 90%, a positive predictive value of 84%, a negative predictive value of 69 %, from what will happen earlier, it can be concluded that the IVA examination is faster, it gives high sensitivity results (Septadina, 2015). IVA is a simple and inexpensive screening method so that cervical cancer can be detected early (Rasjidi, 2015).

Pap Smear and Colposcopic Examination of the Cervix in Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and other Gynaecological Conditions: A Prospective Analytical Study

Introduction: Pap smear and colposcopy are commonly done procedures in gynaecology practice. The Pap test is a low-cost, straight forward, and widely used tool for detecting cervical cancer and preinvasive cervical abnormalities. Colposcopy is also widely used to detect Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) to guide cervical biopsy sites with clinical symptoms of suspected cervical diseases. Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic implications of Pap smear and colposcopy in inflammatory cellular changes and to estimate the incidence of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN)/invasive carcinoma in the study population through biopsy. Materials and Methods: This prospective analytical study was conducted at JNU Medical College, Jaipur, India, where Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), and other gynecology Out Patient Department (OPD) patients without any previous diagnosis of cervical malignancy, were included in the study. A total of 150 study patients, underwent Pap smear and colposcopic examination with biopsy as the gold standard. Descriptive analysis of data was done using means and standard deviation for continuous variables and nominal variables as frequencies. The Chi-square test was applied to categorical variables to find out the association and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was done to predict the diagnostic ability of Pap smear, and colposcopy in cervical pathology. Results: The mean age of the patient population was 36±3 years. The mean age at first coitus and marriage of all the women were 18.9±2.7 years and 19.5±3.4 years, respectively. Twenty (13.3%) and 5 (3.3%) cases were reported as CIN and carcinoma, respectively after colposcopic biopsy. Pap smear results showed a sensitivity of 87.7% and a specificity of 78.2%. The Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) were 72.8% and 68.7%, respectively. Sensitivity of the colposcopic report was 89.4% and the specificity was 98.8%. The PPV is 96.6% and NPV is 82.3% for colposcopic report. Conclusion: This study suggested that PID and gynaecology OPD patients can be better targeted with a good opportunity for screening the potential premalignant changes in the cervix by using Pap smear and colposcopy.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus as a Risk Factor for Cervical Cancer and its Precursor Conditions: Assessment Using Pap Smear and Histopathology

Background Cancer of the cervix is a common cause of malignancy. Its association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is debatable. Objective Early detection of cervical pre-neoplastic lesion in SLE patients. Method A case control study was performed on 64 SLE group and 64 control group using a colposcopy, pap smear and histopathological examination. Conclusion This study revealed that preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the cervix were higher in the SLE group.

Apakah Pengetahuan, Sikap dan Dukungan Suami Berpengaruh terhadap Niat Melakukan Pap Smear di Rumah Sakit?

Background: Estimated number of cases of cervical cancer in Indonesia is estimated as many as 98,692 cases in 2013. Based on prevalence, D.I.Yogyakarta Province has the biggest prevalence in Indonesia that is 0.41%. Pap smear is one of the tests to determine the presence of malignancy in the cervical epithelium which is an early sign of cervical malignancy. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of knowledge, attitudes and support of the husband to the intention of pap smear examination in RSKIA Adinda Yogyakarta.&#x0D; Method: The research method used is analytical research with cross sectional approach. The population used was all female patients aged 15-49 years old who visited the RSKIA Adinda Yogyakarta clinic with a sample size of 147 people. Sampling by purposive sampling. The analysis used with chi square&#x0D; Result: The result of statistical test shows that there is influence between knowledge (p = 0,000), attitude (p = 0,000) and husband support (p = 0,000) with intention to check pap smear at RSKIA Adinda Yogyakarta. So it can be concluded there is influence of knowledge, attitude and support of husband to intention of examination of pap smear at RSKIA Adinda Yogyakarta.&#x0D; Implication: It is expected that the husband will participate in conducting examinations or health consultations related to pap smears so that the husband can participate in helping to provide support, solutions or opinions to the wife about the pap smear test.

The Relationship of Women's Knowledge and Attitudes with Pap Smear Examination at Bhayangkara Hospital Makassar

According to WHO (2011), cervical cancer is one of the leading health problems for women throughout the world with an estimated 529,409 new cases and around eighty-six percent (86%) in developing countries. In Indonesia, it is estimated that every day 40-45 new cases appear, 20-25 people die, meaning that every 1 hour it is estimated that 1 woman dies due to cervical cancer. The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between women's knowledge and attitudes with pap smear examinations at Bhayangkara Hospital Makassar. This research uses analytical research methods. The population is women who come for check-ups at Bhayangkara Hospital Makassar Family Planning Polyclinic. The sample studied was 39 people using accidental sampling technique. The research started from March 7 to April 7 2016. Data was collected using a questionnaire and then statistical analysis was carried out using the chi square test with the alternative Fisher's exact test with a significance level of ? &lt; 0.05. The research results showed that the majority of respondents had insufficient knowledge, namely 29 people (74.4%). Based on attitudes, the majority of respondents with a negative attitude were 32 people (82.1%), and the majority did not have a pap smear, namely 27 people (69.2%). The results of the Fisher's exact test obtained a value of p = 0.004 &lt; 0.05, and p = 0.002 &lt; 0.05. Based on the research results, it was concluded that there was a relationship between women's knowledge and pap smear examinations, and there was a relationship between women's attitudes and pap smear examinations. It is recommended that health workers, considering the low level of public behavior regarding the importance of Pap smears, need to take several steps to increase people's knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding the importance of Pap smears.

Sexual and reproductive health knowledge of postgraduate students at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa

BackgroundGlobally and in South Africa, university students’ knowledge of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is low. This study was conducted in response to the dearth of information about the sexual and reproductive health knowledge of postgraduate students. Research conducted to explore the SRH knowledge of undergraduate students suggests that the level of SRH knowledge among undergraduate students is low. The aim of this study was to determine the SRH knowledge of postgraduate students with regards to contraceptives, sexually transmitted illnesses (STI), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Pap smear and clinical breast examination at University of Cape Town (UCT), in South Africa.MethodA cross sectional survey design was utilized, using an adapted and pretested online questionnaire. The aim of this study was to determine the SRH knowledge of postgraduate students at the UCT. Minor adjustments were made to the questionnaire to suit the South African context. Selected aspects of SRH were included in the current study: knowledge and use of contraceptives, Pap smear, clinical breast examination, STIs and HIV. These variables were considered to be general enough to be answerable by male and female respondents and are the most important considerations in reproductive health care in South Africa, as there is a high prevalence of STIs, HIV and cervical and breast cancers. All postgraduate students enrolled in the first semester of 2017 (9444) were invited to anonymously complete the online survey. Data was exported to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 and analysed using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages.ResultsFour hundred and six (406) students completed the online survey, of whom 293 were female and 107 males. The age range of respondents was between 18 and 57 years, with the median age for both male and female respondents being 24 years. Six survey responses were excluded from the statistical analysis because of incomplete data. Post graduate students from the African continent comprised 90.75% of the respondents. Most respondents were white (51.50%) from both Africa and abroad. The results indicated that respondents knew about sexually transmitted infections, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Female respondents were more aware of breast examination, and the role of Papanicolaou smear (Pap smear) in SRH. Almost half of the respondents in this study (49%) stated that they had no need for more information about contraceptives. Lecturers were identified as one of the top five sources of information, which suggests that the university environment provides students with important SRH-related information.ConclusionMost postgraduate students had knowledge of sexual and reproductive health with regards to contraception, Pap smear, clinical breast examination, STIs, HIV and AIDS. Further research should focus on the relationship between SRH knowledge and usage among this population. As university lecturers were identified as an important source of information across faculties, the University should consider the incorporation of SRH education in the broader curriculum and as an integral component of student health services.

Pap Smear as A Cervical Cancer Screening in Women of Childbearing Age in 2020.

Early detection through screening programs is one of the cervical cancer prevention strategies that can help reduce cervical cancer morbidity and mortality. One method of early detection is through Pap smear examination. This study aimed to determine the profile of pap smear results at the Nusaniwe Sub-District Health Center, Ambon City. This descriptive observational study with a cross-sectional design was conducted at Amahusu Health Center, Benteng Health Center, Waihaong Health Center, and Urimessing Health Center. Pap smear examination was performed on women of childbearing age who came for treatment at the Health Center. They had no contraindications for pap smear examination and the results of the nonreactive IgM and IgG Sars-CoV2 antibody tests. From the examination results, on a total of 38 samples, the average age of the sample was 36.89, with the youngest age being 24 years old and the oldest being 46 years old. The highest age group was &gt;35 years (55.3%), and the most age at first sexual intercourse was in the &gt; 20-year age group (68.4%). Then, the most parity status was the multiparous group (68.4%). Generally, the sample had never undergone cervical cancer screening, both VIA examination and previous pap smear examination (60% and 92.1%, respectively). The most pap smear results were inflammation with infectious organisms as much as 42.1%, followed by inflammation (39.5%), Negative for Intraepithelial Lesion or Malignancy (10.5%), Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (5.3%) and Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (2.6%). The most infecting organisms were bacteria (21.1%).