RESUMO
Introduction: Cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among women inMalaysia. Although a cervical screening program has been introduced since 1960s and isprovided free of charge in all government health facilities, the coverage and adherence rate torecommendation among Malaysian women remains low.Objectives: To determine the proportion of non-adherence to Pap smear screening guidelines andits associated factors among women attending a health clinic in Malaysia.Method: A cross sectional study involving 316 women aged 20 to 65 years who had undergonea Pap smear. Universal sampling method was applied to select participants among womenwho attended the selected health clinic from January 2013 to May 2013. A self-administeredquestionnaire was used to obtain the socio-demographic characteristics, socio-health data andperceptions about cervical cancer and Pap smear screening. The data was analysed using descriptivestatistics and multiple logistic regression.Result: The proportion of non-adherence to Pap smear screening was 90.5%. Age, marital status,duration of marriage, education level, employment, household income and number of children were notsignificantly associated with non-adherence. Perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefit,perceived barrier and cues to action did not show significant association with non-adherence to Papsmear screening.Conclusion: Non-adherence to Pap smear screening was high among Malaysian women. Measuresshould be taken to increase Pap smear screening coverage in our country. Other factors beyondHealth Belief Model that influence Pap smear screening practice among Malaysian women shouldbe explored.