Role of the chosen general practitioner in educating women on the importance of regular gynecological examinations

Abstract

Introduction. Since regular screening is the best way of preventing the development of cervical cancer, the objective has been set to assess the motivation of women to have regular gynecological examinations and to estimate the role of the chosen general practitioner. Material and Methods. The survey was performed on the basis of the prospective study done at the Health Centre ?Novi Sad? in 2009 during the systematic regular examinations carried out by general practitioners. Results. It was found that 60.8% of the examined women had regular checkups; 21.5% visited their doctor once in the period of two to five years and 4.9% had undergone the examination in a period > 10 years, whereas 1.9 women had never had an examination. Other examinees had occasional check-ups with various time laps between them. Discussion. The reasons for not visiting a gynecologist were fear of the examination, absence of discomforts and lack of time. However, 87.2% of the examinees visited a gynecologist after they had been advised to do so by their general practitioner. Gynecological finding was good in 87.6% of the women, 3.4% were found to have carcinoma and 8.9% had some other abnormal finding. Conclusion. According to the obtained results, it has been concluded that the chosen general practitioner has a very important role in motivating women to have regular gynecological examinations and in educating them on the risk factors for developing malignant diseases and on the possible prevention.