scholarly journals Knowledge, attitude and practices about cervical cancer screening among nursing staff in rural tertiary care center

Author(s):  
Soniya Vishwakarma ◽  
Rajani Rawat ◽  
Nupur Mittal ◽  
Pragya Shree

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women worldwide.  The knowledge and attitude of nursing personnel towards cervical cancer screening can grossly influence the community. As the doctor to patient ratio is low in India, staff nurses if trained can act both as health educators and service providers. Objectives of the study were to determine the baseline information about the knowledge of cervical cancer and explore attitude and practice of Pap smear screening among staff nurses.Methods: In this cross-sectional study sample of 100 nurses was selected randomly out of the total 445 nurses employed in the hospital at a rural tertiary care centre from August 2016 to October 2016. A self-administered, structured, open ended and pretested questionnaire comprising of questions on the general characteristics, awareness, perceptions and actual practices of nursing personnel was used to gather information about cervical screening.Results: In this study, 82% knew that Pap smear can detect cancer. About 48% knew that it can present as post-menopausal bleeding and 32% of the respondents knew that HPV is a risk factor for cancer cervix, but only 30% knew about HPV vaccine and only 35% have ever been screened.Conclusions: The study showed that, knowledge about cancer cervix, screening and practice of Pap smear is low among nursing staff. There is an urgent need for integration of cervical cancer prevention issues in the nurses existing training curriculum.

Author(s):  
Bhabani Pegu ◽  
Niharika Dhiman ◽  
Jaya Chaturvedi ◽  
Suresh K. Sharma

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the commonest cancers among women which cause morbidity and mortality worldwide. Though, it is a preventable disease, most of the women with cervical cancer present in advanced stage due to lack of knowledge about the disease and screening among general population. The objective was to assess the level of knowledge and explore attitude towards cervical cancer screening among female nursing staff.Methods: A cross sectional, questionnaire based study was conducted on 34 female nursing staff in a tertiary care hospital of Uttarakhand, India in the month of January 2015. With the help of predesigned questionnaire, information was collected regarding demographic profile, knowledge about cervical cancer and attitude towards screening techniques.Results: In this study, 79% of the respondents had knowledge about screening methods for cervical cancer and 91% had knowledge about HPV vaccine. Though 82% of them were aware of pap smear and 89% had good attitude towards it, 85.29% respondent knew about colposcopy as one of the screening technique for cervical cancer. None of the respondent had undergone a pap smear themselves.Conclusions: The study showed that, female nursing staff had average knowledge and positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening. They were not aware of the routine screening guidelines and had limited understanding of different types of cervical cancer screening techniques. Hence, it is recommended that routine training should be given on regular basis to all the health care providers.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astha Srivastava ◽  
Bindiya Gupta ◽  
Vikas Lakha ◽  
Shilpa Singh

Objective: To study the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses at tertiary centre regarding cervical cancer screening. Material and Methods: Validated questionnaire was circulated amongst staff nurses at tertiary care centre after taking informed consent. Results and Discussion: Cancer of cervix is the most common genital tract malignancy in female and it is ranked second to breast cancer. It has a positive association with HPV infection. Cervical cancer incidence and mortality have declined substantially following introduction of screening programmes. This present study investigated the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses at GTB Hospital towards cervical cancer risk factors, sign & symptoms and screening as they are important health professionals. In our study, the results showed that 99% of respondents were aware of Pap smear as screening programme and about 60-70% were aware of HPV as positive organism, but most of them never had a Pap smear done before. Majority of them did not know VIA, VILI and colposcopy as screening techniques. Conclusion: It may thus be recommended that institutions should periodically organize seminars and training for health personnel especially the nurses which form a group of professionals that should give health education to women about cervical cancer.


Author(s):  
Pooja K. Bandekar ◽  
Prashant B. Kale

Background: Carcinoma cervix is the second most common cancer of women all over the world and commonest cancer among Indian women. Awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention low amongst Indian women. The Pap test is a simple cost-effective technique for screening to help early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Nursing staff should be made aware of cervical cancer, so that they can spread the knowledge to the general public. Objectives of present study were to assess the knowledge level regarding symptoms, risk factors, prevention and screening of cervical carcinoma among nursing staff and to find out the behaviour of respondents regarding prevention and screening of cervical carcinomaMethods: A cross-sectional interview-based survey regarding knowledge of cervical carcinoma was conducted among the nursing staff of a tertiary care institutes of Mumbai.A structured questionnaire with multiple choices was used as a tool for data collection. Provision for open-ended responses was also made in the questionnaire. 100 nurses participated in the current study. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel. SPSS statistical software was used to generate statistical parameters like proportion, mean, standard deviation, etc. The test of significance used was the Z test and a P value of <0.05 was considered as the level of significance.Results: We lack an organized opportunistic screening program for cervical cancer in India. Data indicates a slow, but steady, decline in the incidence of cervical cancer. However, the rates are still too high, particularly in the rural areas. It is extremely essential to screen eligible women when they come to health units for other services. Studies have shown it is possible to train nurses to screen for cervical cancer. Attitudes that screening is to be done by doctors or gynaecologists only needs to change. The survey revealed that the hospital played a limited role as a source of information on Pap smear. This calls for a re-orientation of nurses, paramedicals and health workers and a need for introduction of simpler cervical cancer screening methods such as visual inspections that are more sustainableConclusions: Awareness about cervical cancer has to be improved. Education of the nursing personel will strongly contribute to strengthen cervical cancer screening programs. Nursing staff can and should educate the masses to help increase health awareness in women.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Dr. N. Thamarai Selvi ◽  
◽  
Dr. Revathi Shree R ◽  
Dr. Prakashiny S. ◽  
◽  
...  

Introduction: Carcinoma Cervix is common all around the globe and ranked third amidst allmalignancies among women. The cervical mucosa undergoes morphologic variation with age andpractising cytopathologists is aware of these difference to make an accurate diagnosis. This studyaimed to detect abnormal cervical epithelial cell patterns in a rural population and compare lesionsor abnormal cell patterns among different age groups. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in a tertiary care centre at the Department of Pathology over6 months. 408 women were included in the study. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel andanalyzed in SPSS software. Results: Out of 408 women included in the study, the most commonage group of the presentation was 31 to 40 years (36%), followed by 20 to 30 years (24%). NILM-Inflammatory was the most common finding (50%), followed by NILM (36%). The most commonsymptoms of presentation were Menstrual abnormalities (21%), White discharge and pruritus(18%). Findings in younger women were most commonly NILM-Inflammatory & NILM whereas in thepost-menopausal age group, ASCUS, LSIL & HSIL. Conclusion: All women above 30 years of ageshould undergo routine cervical cancer screening, and should continue screening even in theperimenopausal and postmenopausal age. Most women who visited the gynaecology OPD were notaware of cervical cancer screening. Hence the general population has to be educated about thebenefits of pap smear test through medical camps and awareness programs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica J. Liebermann ◽  
Nancy VanDevanter ◽  
Taraneh Shirazian ◽  
Natalia Frías Gúzman ◽  
Mimi Niles ◽  
...  

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the Dominican Republic, and high rates persist despite existing Pap smear screening programs. The purpose of this study was to explore Dominican women’s knowledge and attitudes regarding human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, cervical cancer screening practices, and perceived barriers and facilitators to early detection of cervical cancer. Method: Six focus groups ( N = 64) were conducted in Spanish in urban, suburban, and rural locations, in private and public school settings, community and workplace settings, in or near Santo Domingo, as part of a larger study on barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccine implementation. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and translated from Spanish to English. Qualitative data analysis used inductive and deductive approaches. Results: Knowledge regarding HPV and cervical cancer varied across groups, but all agreed there was significant stigma and fear regarding HPV. Most women reported having Pap screening at least yearly. Follow-up of abnormal Pap testing was less consistent, with cost and uncertainty about provider recommendations identified as barriers. Discussion: Broader examination of provider-level and health system barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer prevention in the Dominican Republic is essential, in order to inform interventions to improve the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening and treatment programs and reduce preventable deaths.


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