Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2015; 36(02): 105-110
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.158840
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Knowledge, attitudes and practice toward cervical cancer screening among Sikkimese nursing staff in India

Hafizur Rahman
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim
,
Sumit Kar
Department of Community Medicine, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
  PDF Download Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Objectives: To assess baseline knowledge of cancer cervix, screening and practice of Pap smear screening among Sikkimese staff nurses in India. Materials and Methods: Between April 2012 and February 2013, a predesigned, pretested, self -administered multiple responses questionnaire survey was conducted among staff nurses′ working in various hospitals of Sikkim. Questionnaire contained information about their demographics, knowledge of cervical cancer, its risk factors, screening methods, attitudes toward cervical cancer screening and practice of Pap smear amongst themselves. Results: Overall, 90.4% nurses responded that they were aware of cancer cervix. Three quarter of the staff nurses were not aware of commonest site being cancer cervix in women. Of the 320 participants, who had heard of cancer cervix, 253 (79.1%) were aware of cancer cervix screening. Pap smear screening should start at 21 years or 3 years after sexual debut was known to only one-third of the nursing staff. Age was found to be a significant predictor of awareness of Pap smear screening among nursing staff. Awareness was significantly more prevalent among older staff (P < 0.007). Married nursing staffs were significantly more likely to be aware of screening methods, and nursing staff of Christian and Buddhist religion were 1.25 times and 2.03 times more likely to aware of screening methods than Hindu religion respectively. Only 16.6% nurses, who were aware of a Pap smear (11.9% of the total sample), had ever undergone a Pap smear test. Most common reason offered for not undergoing Pap smear test were, they felt they were not at risk (41%), uncomfortable pelvic examination (25%) and fear of a bad result (16.6%). Conclusion: Knowledge of cancer cervix, screening and practice of Pap smear was low among Sikkimese nursing staff in India. There is an urgent need for re-orientation course for working nurses and integration of cervical cancer prevention issues in the nurses′ existing curriculum in India and other developing countries.

Keywords

Cervical cancer - knowledge - nursing staff - Pap smear - screening


Publication History

Article published online:
12 July 2021

© 2015. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Standard & Guidelines, Cervical and breast cancer screening by VIA & CBE. New York: The United Nations Population Fund; 2006.
  • 2 International agency for research on cancer. Latest world cancer statistics global cancer burden rises to 14.1 million new cases in 2012: Marked increase in breast cancers must be addressed. GLOBOCAN 2012, World Health Organization Press release, 12 th December 2013. Available from: http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2013/pdfs/pr223_E.pdf. [Last accessed on 2014 Oct 11].
  • 3 Shanta V. Perspectives in cervical cancer prevention in India,. The international network for cancer treatment and research; 2003. Available from: http://www.inctr.org/meetings/past-meetings/annual-meeting-2003/. [Last accessed on 2013, Aug 12].
  • 4 National Cancer Registry Programme. Three year report of population based cancer registries 2009-2011. Indian Council Med Res, New Delhi; 2013. Available from: http://www.icmr.nic.in/ncrp/PBCR_Report%202009_2011/ALL_CONTENT/ALL_PDF/preliminary_pages.pdf. [Last accessed on 2014 Oct 11].
  • 5 Arbyn M, Rebolj M, De Kok IM, Fender M, Becker N, O′Reilly M, et al. The challenges of organising cervical screening programmes in the 15 old member states of the European Union. Eur J Cancer 2009;45:2671-8.
  • 6 Anttila A, Pukkala E, Söderman B, Kallio M, Nieminen P, Hakama M. Effect of organised screening on cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Finland, 1963-1995: Recent increase in cervical cancer incidence. Int J Cancer 1999;83:59-65.
  • 7 Anttila A, Arbyn M, Veerus P, Viberga I, Kurtinaitiene R, Valerianova Z, et al. Barriers in cervical cancer screening programs in new European Union member states. Tumori 2010;96:515-6.
  • 8 Bos AB, Rebolj M, Habbema JD, van Ballegooijen M. Nonattendance is still the main limitation for the effectiveness of screening for cervical cancer in the Netherlands. Int J Cancer 2006;119:2372-5.
  • 9 Singh E, Seth S, Rani V, Srivastava DK. Awareness of cervical cancer screening among nursing staff in a tertiary institution of rural India. J Gynecol Oncol 2012;23:141-6.
  • 10 Ezem BU. Awareness and uptake of cervical cancer screening in Owerri, South-Eastern Nigeria. Ann Afr Med 2007;6:94-8.
  • 11 Shekhar S, Sharma C, Thakur S, Raina N. 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;14:3641-5.
  • 12 Ali SF, Ayub S, Manzoor NF, Azim S, Afif M, Akhtar N, et al. Knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention amongst interns and nursing staff in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. PLoS One 2010;5:e11059.
  • 13 Nganwai P, Truadpon P, Inpa C, Sangpetngam B, Mekjarasnapa M, Apirakarn M, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices vis-a-vis cervical cancer among registered nurses at the Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2008;9:15-8.
  • 14 Sankaranarayanan R, Rajkumar R, Arrossi S, Theresa R, Esmy PO, Mahé C, et al. Determinants of participation of women in a cervical cancer visual screening trial in rural south India. Cancer Detect Prev 2003;27:457-65.
  • 15 Siahpush M, Singh GK. Sociodemographic predictors of pap test receipt, currency and knowledge among Australian women. Prev Med 2002;35:362-8.
  • 16 Yaren A, Ozkilinc G, Guler A, Oztop I. Awareness of breast and cervical cancer risk factors and screening behaviours among nurses in rural region of Turkey. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) 2008;17:278-84.
  • 17 Udigwe GO. Knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening (pap smear) among female nurses in Nnewi, South Eastern Nigeria. Niger J Clin Pract 2006;9:40-3.
  • 18 Bott S, Jejeebhoy S, Shah I, Puri C. Towards adulthood: Exploring the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent in South Asia. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.
  • 19 Powe BD, Finnie R. Cancer fatalism: The state of the science. Cancer Nurs 2003;26:454-65.
  • 20 Denny L, Kuhn L, De Souza M, Pollack AE, Dupree W, Wright TC Jr. Screen-and-treat approaches for cervical cancer prevention in low-resource settings: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2005;294:2173-81.
  • 21 Chirenje ZM, Chipato T, Kasule J, Rusakaniko S. Visual inspection of the cervix as a primary means of cervical cancer screening: Results of a pilot study. Cent Afr J Med 1999;45:30-3.