Knowledge and Beliefs of Women about Cervical Cancer Prevention in Port Said City

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, especially in developing countries. Cervical cancer is a highly preventable and curable cancer compared with other types of cancer, if detected at an early stage. Aim: assess the knowledge and beliefs of women about cervical cancer prevention in Port Said City. Subjects and Method: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study at five gynecological and family planning clinics in primary health care centers within the city of Port Said. A multi- stage cluster sampling technique was used for 110 women. Two tools were used to gather the required data consisted of; Tool (I) women’s knowledge structured interview questionnaire about cervical cancer, Tool (II) Health Belief Model Scale in addition to personal characteristics, and obstetric history of women. Results: The study revealed that 90.9% of the studied women had unsatisfactory level of total knowledge and 69.1% of them had low level of total beliefs about cervical cancer prevention. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the total women's knowledge were unsatisfactory and the total women's beliefs were low in all subscales of health belief model about cervical cancer prevention. Also, there was a highly statistically significant positive correlation between total women’s knowledge and their total beliefs about cervical cancer. Recommendations: Implement preventive program based on a health belief model to increase women’s knowledge and beliefs about cervical cancer prevention.