TITLE:

KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE FOR CERVICAL

CANCER SCREENING AMONG HEALTH CARE
PROFESSIONALS IN A TERTIARY CARE UNIT
INTRODUCTION:
Cervical cancer is fourth most common cancer among women in the world, with about
quarter of million women dying each year 1. Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia
among the areas with highest prevalence and mortality rate 1, 2
. WHO recommends screening for
cervical cancer among women aged 30 to 49 years every five years ideally or one in a life time at
least 2. Cervical cancer screening includes detailed history and pelvic examination and collection
of cervical smear for Papinacalau test. Speculum examination also includes a visual inspection
using acetic acid 3.

Cervical cancer is most commonly caused by human Papilloma virus contact, which gets
tranmitted mostly through sexual contact 4. Most of the times patients remain asymptomatic
however some times patients can present with vaginal discharge, pelvic inflammatory disease
and dysparunia. HPV infections have been associated with cervical cancer, cervical neoplasia,
and other anogenital malignancies 4. Cervical cancer can be prevented by early identification and
the human Papillomavirus vaccination 5. Cervical cancer is caused by HPV types 16 and 18,
which account for 70% of all cases 6.

Cervical cancer prognosis can be improved with widespread screening 7. Research in

many countries have been undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practise of female
students and health care providers . Health practitioners had an overall knowledge of cervical
8-11

cancer of 75.14 percent.10 The knowledge of Pap smear screening was 66.66 percent, the attitude
toward cervical cancer screening was 85.47 percent, and the practise of screening was 12.70
percent 10. The goal of this project is to gather data on current awareness, attitudes, and practises
in order to build a population-based educational programme that will improve knowledge about
cervical cancer and screening.
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