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NEW THIS THURSDAY: CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES AMONG NURSING STAFF IN A TERTIARY LEVEL TEACHING INSTITUTION OF RURAL INDIA

Sunday, 8th of September 2013 Print
  • CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES AMONG NURSING STAFF IN A TERTIARY LEVEL TEACHING INSTITUTION OF RURAL INDIA

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(6):3641-5.

Shekhar S, Sharma C, Thakur S, Raina N.

Source Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AIIMS Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India E-mail : cdsharma2006@yahoo.co.in.

Abstract below; full text is at http://www.apocpcontrol.org/page/apjcp_issues_view.php?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:23886159&key=2013.14.6.3641

Background: Assessment of the nursing staff knowledge, attitude and practices about cervical cancer screening in a tertiary care teaching institute of rural India. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional, descriptive, interview- based survey was conducted with a pretested questionnaire among 262 staff nurses of a tertiary care teaching and research institute. Results: In this study 77% respondents knew that Pap smear is used for detection of cervical cancer, but less than half knew that Pap smear can detect even precancerous lesions of cervix. Only 23.4% knew human papilloma virus infection as a risk factor. Only 26.7% of the respondents were judged as having adequate knowledge based on scores allotted for questions evaluating knowledge about cervical cancer and screening. Only 17 (7%) of the staff nurses had themselves been screened by Pap smear, while 85% had never taken a Pap smear of a patient. Adequate knowledge of cervical cancer and screening, higher parity and age >30 years were significantly associated with self screening for cervical cancer. Most nurses held a view that Pap test is a doctor procedure, and nearly 90% of nurses had never referred a patient for Pap testing. Conclusions: The majority of nursing staff in rural India may have inadequate knowledge about cervical cancer screening, and their attitude and practices towards cervical cancer screening could not be termed positive. 

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