Women's perception of cervical cancer pap smear screening

Women's perception of barriers and facilitators of cervical cancer Pap smear screening: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE

Although Pap smear (PS) is considered the best standard in detecting cervical cancer, adherence to timely and regular PS is often lower than global standards in developing countries. Thus, the present study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators of adherence to cervical cancer screening in Mashhad, Iran.

DESIGN

A qualitative content analysis was done from July to December 2022 using semistructured in-depth interviews.

SETTING

The study was conducted in health centres in Mashhad, Iran.

PARTICIPANTS

A sample of 36 married women aged 18-70 years was selected using a purposive sampling, with maximum diversity.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 42.8±7.6 years. Among all, 66.7% had the PS test at least once; only 8.3% regularly had the test. The qualitative content analysis led to the extraction of four major themes: (1) individual challenges, (2) environmental limitations, (3) individual motivators, and (4) supportive and efficient environments. The most significant barriers were psychological stress, unhealthy attitudes, insufficient information, cultural issues and insufficient healthcare services. Facilitators included an active and efficient healthcare system, advice and support of important others, and positive emotions and individual beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants' perceptions showed that the main factors influencing the PS testing were supportive environments, individual motivators, individual challenges and environmental limitations. To encourage women to take the PS and reduce barriers, it may be necessary to revise current health system policies, promote individual and public awareness, reduce psychological stress and correct negative beliefs and attitudes.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the Pap smear test in female college students attending a global university in the United States

BACKGROUND

According to the World Health Organization, every minute, one woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer, and every 2 minutes, one woman dies of cervical cancer globally (World Health Organization, 2022). The biggest tragedy is 99% of cervical cancer is caused by a preventable sexually transmitted infection known as human papilloma virus (World Health Organization, 2022).

LOCAL PROBLEM

Many US universities indicate approximately 30% of their admissions are international students. The lack of Pap smear screening in this population has not been clearly identified by college health care providers.

METHODS

Fifty-one participants from a university located in the northeastern United States completed an online survey between September and October 2018. The survey was designed to identify disparities between United States residents and internationally admitted female students in their knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the Pap smear test.

INTERVENTIONS

One hundred percent of US students had heard of the Pap smear test as compared with 72.7% of international students ( p = .008); 86.8% of US students considered a Pap smear as opposed to 45.5% of international students ( p = .002), and 65.8% of US students previously had a Pap smear test as opposed to 18.8% of international students ( p = .007).

RESULTS

Results revealed statistically significant differences between US and internationally admitted female college students in knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the Pap smear test.

CONCLUSIONS

This project helps to bring awareness to college health clinicians the need for cervical cancer education and Pap smear screening for our college age international female population.