Knowledge and attitude of women on cervical cancer risk factors, prevention and screening / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

ABSTRACT

Introduction Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women worldwide. It can be prevented by identifying pre-cancer lesions at early stages using Pap smear screening and treating these lesions. Knowledge and attitude on cervical cancer and Pap smear tests are associated with actual participation in cervical cancer screening. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate cervical cancer and Pap smear knowledge and attitudes among Mongolian women. Materials and Methods A total of 671 women aged 30 to 60 years from urban and rural areas participated in the study. The multiple clusters sampling method was used. We examined the relations of socio-demographic characteristics with lack of knowledge and negative attitude towards Pap smear tests by using a multilogistic regression analysis. Result The response rate was 89% (671/750). 62% of the participants correctly answered less than 4 out of 8 questions about cervical cancer risk factors. Also 47,2% and 79,3% of the total number of the women had never heard of Pap Smear and HPV. Only 16,4% of the respondents have some knowledge about them. Almost all (93%) participants agreed that there is a defficiency of information about cancer and its screening.58% and 28% of respondents said that they would participate in Pap smear tests voluntarily and agree to vaccinate their daughters. Positive attitude on Pap smear tests was higher among women living in rural areas and those who have had a Pap smear test. Conclusions Cervical cancer and Pap smear knowledge and attitude among the women in Mongolia are low. Having higher education and higher income level did not ensure positive attitude to cervical cancer screening. Strategies for communicating accurate information about cervical cancer, prevention, and detection as well as risk and treatment of cervical cancer are needed.