ABSTRACT
Background: Carcinoma of the cervix is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, while it is the commonest cancer among Indian women. Awareness regarding cervical cancer and its prevention is quite low amongst Indian women. The Pap test is a simple and cost effective technique for early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Objectives: 1) To assess knowledge level regarding symptoms, risk factors, and preventive measures for cervical carcinoma among nursing staff; 2) To find out the attitude and practice of respondents regarding preventive measures of cervical carcinoma; 3) To identify the socio demographic determinants affecting the level of knowledge among participants. Methodology: A Hospital-based survey regarding knowledge levels about cervical carcinoma was conducted among the nursing staff from one of the tertiary health institutes in Ahmadabad, India. A structured questionnaire with multiple choices was used for data collection. Provision for open-ended responses was also made in the questionnaire. Department-wise stratification was carried out, and thereafter 25% of the total nursing staff from all departments was selected randomly to include a total of 100 nurses in the current study. Data entry was done in Microsoft Excel. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0.Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. statistical software was used to generate statistical parameters like proportion, mean standard deviation, etc. The CHI- SQUARE test was used as a test of significance considering P value of <0.05 as the level of significance. Result: Out of all respondents, 88 respondents were aware about CA cervix. Only 5% of them have good and 39% have average knowledge about the sign and symptoms, risk factors and preventive measures of CA Cervix. Major source of information to respondents were educational textbooks and doctors. Only 1 out of 88 women have undergone Pap smear test and no one has taken HPV vaccination. Conclusion & recommendations: Majority of the participants had poor knowledge about CA cervix. There is no association between marital status and age of the participants to the level of knowledge among participants regarding CA Cervix. Educational programmes for nursing staff can help to improve the knowledge regarding CA Cervix and practicing preventive measures.