Knowledge of Thai women in cervical cancer etiology and screening

Abstract

Knowledge about cervical cancer screening and Human papilloma virus (HPV) influence on their awareness to the cervical cancer screening program. Most previous studies found inadequate knowledge and attitude among healthy women affect the low rate of screening. This study aimed to assess knowledge of cervical cancer screening and HPV in women who had abnormal cervical cancer screening in Bangkok. Thai women, aged ≥ 18 years old, who had abnormal cervical cancer screening and scheduled to colposcopy clinics of 10 participating hospitals were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. The participants were asked to complete a self-answer questionnaire (Thai language). The questionnaire composed of 3 parts: (I) demographic data, (II) knowledge about cervical cancer screening and (III) knowledge about HPV. Among 499 women who answered the questionnaires, 2 had missing demographic data. The mean age of the participants was 39.28 ± 11.36 years. 70% of them had experience of cervical cancer screening, with 22.7% had previous abnormal cytologic results. Out of 14 questions, the mean score of knowledge about cervical cancer screening was 10.04 ± 2.37. Only 26.9% had good knowledge about cervical cancer screening. Nearly 96% of woman did not know that screening should be done. After excluding 110 women who had never known about HPV, 25.2% had good knowledge about HPV. From multivariable analysis, only younger age (≤ 40 years) was associated with good knowledge of cervical cancer screening and HPV. In the conclusion, only 26.9% of women in this study had good knowledge regarding cervical cancer screening. Likewise, 20.1% of women who had ever heard about HPV has good knowledge about HPV. Providing information about cervical cancer screening and HPV should improve the women’s knowledge and better adherence to the screening procedure.