Knowledge and attitudes about human papillomavirus, Pap smears, and cervical cancer among young women in Brazil: implications for health education and prevention

Abstract

The objective of the study was to assess knowledge and attitudes about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and Papanicolaou (Pap) smears among young women. A questionnaire was administered to 204 women aged 16-23 years, attending a public clinic. Data were gathered on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes related to HPV. Overall, 92% of women reported current/previous sexual activity, 42% perceived themselves at high risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease, 67% did not know that HPV can cause cervical cancer/warts, and only 10% acknowledged that HPV might lead to cervical cancer. In general, women had a poor knowledge on HPV diagnosis/treatment, condyloma signs, and Pap smear test. The main reasons for not having a Pap smear test done before were embarrassment (63%) and fear of pain (61%). Knowledge of HPV infection and cervical cancer was low in this urban young population. Our findings recommend for greater HPV education of the public and health care practitioners.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of the Pap Smear as a Screening Procedure Among Nurses in a Tertiary Hospital in North Eastern India

“…Our nurse respondents needed more knowledge about the causes and risks of cervical cancer, especially with respect to HPV as 39.2% correctly understood that an HPV infection was associated with cervical cancer. However, this was better than the result from study by Moreira et al (2006) in which only 17.6% of their respondents had a correct understanding. Another important risk factor, but not directly related to sexual behaviours and HPV infection, is smoking: only 17.4% of respondents had a complete understanding which could limit their effectiveness in conveying cervical cancer prevention behaviour to the general population.…”

Cervical cancer and HPV vaccination: Knowledge and attitudes of adult women in Lusaka, Zambia.

“…Numerous studies have explored the attitudes of men and women on HPV vaccination, both for themselves and their children (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Interestingly, the majority of these studies were conducted in countries where cervical cancer rates have dwindled in the last few decades due to widespread screening measures.…”

“…The questions were based on modified versions of questionnaires from several other studies on attitudes towards HPV vaccination (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Prior to the start of the study, we conducted two focus groups with adult women presenting to both clinics to assess general knowledge about vaccines, cancer, and cervical cancer.…”

Conocimientos y conductas preventivas sobre cáncer cérvico-uterino y virus papiloma humano en un grupo de adolescentes chilenas

“…La necesidad de educación en este tema ha sido descrita como relevante 29 , dado que un gran porcentaje tanto de Chile 10 como del mundo [30][31][32][33][34][35][36] desconoce aspectos claves al respecto, lo que sumado al inicio de la actividad sexual, cada vez más precoz en los adolescentes, obliga a entregar información respecto de las vías de contagio y el riesgo real de contraer el VPH 37 .…”