Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Cervical Screening  among Females of the Local Community

Zahida  Zakir; Anees Fatima; Bushra Mehreen; Sundas Zafar; Iffat Hamid; Nishat Akram

doi:10.71104/jsogp.v16i3.1107

Zahida Zakir WMO RHC Bara Ghar District Nankana Sahib (Ex Resident Shifa Int Hospital Islamabad)
Anees Fatima Assistant Professor, Sharif Medical and Dental College (Ex Resident Shifa Int Hospital Islamabad)
Bushra Mehreen WMO THQ depalpur District Okara (Ex Residnet Shifa Int Hospital Islamabad)
Sundas Zafar Health manager and consultant gynecologist at MNH (Ex Resident Shifa Int Hospital, Islamabad)
Iffat Hamid Assistant professor, Obstetrics and gynaecology Chaudhary Muhammad Akram teaching and research hospital lahore (Ex Resident Shifa Int Hospital, Islamabad)
Nishat Akram Associate professor, Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore (Ex Faculty Shifa Int Hospital, Islamabad)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.71104/jsogp.v16i3.1107

Keywords: Cervical cancer

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical screening among females of the local community attending Gynecology outpatient department (OPD).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sharif Medical City Hospital, Lahore, from July 2021 to January 2022. Women aged 20-60 years, residing in local communities presenting at gynae OPD with different gynecological complaints were included. All the enrolled participants underwent face-to-face discussion with the researcher. Their feedback against each question was recorded and knowledge, attitude and practice were noted. All this information was recorded through pre-designed proforma.

Results: Overall women were predominantly young adults, with an overall mean age of 34.67 ± 10.01 years. Overall knowledge regarding cervical screening was significantly inadequate in most of the women 46.5%, moderate in 40.5% and good in only 13%. Regardless of this, majority of women (90.3%) had a positive attitude towards cervical screening, whereas only 24.3% had ever undergone screening and most of the women 75.7% still had never been screened. The educational status was significantly linked to the knowledge and attitude of the women (p =0.001): the good knowledge was higher among women educated beyond graduation (75.0%), while a negative attitude was most common among illiterate women (64.7%), (p = 0.472).

Conclusion: The majority of women had a positive attitude towards screening, but many had inadequate knowledge and only a small proportion had ever been screened.