Self-perceived risk and barriers to cervical cancer screening among patients seeking care at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Tamil Nadu

Authors

  • Lokeshwari Jayaraman Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
  • Maheshwari K. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
  • Sanjeev Kumar Khichi Department of Community Medicine, SHKM Govt. Medical College, Mewat
  • Abhishek Singh Department of Community Medicine, SHKM Govt. Medical College, Mewat
  • Shewtank Goel Department of Microbiology, MSDS Medical College, Fatehgarh, UP
  • Avijit Roy Deputy Director Health, Directorate of Health Services, Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar
  • Jayaprakash K. Department of Forensic Medicine, AJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Karnataka
  • Pooja Goyal Department of Community Medicine, ESIC Medical College, Faridabad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20160515

Keywords:

Barriers, Cervical cancer screening, Risk, Patients

Abstract

Background: Identification of characteristics of women, their perceptions of own risk and barriers to accessing existing screening services can provide important information for shaping screening services. The objective of the study was, the present study was undertaken to ascertain the perceptions of risk and barriers to cervical cancer screening by women seeking care at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Tamil Nadu.

Methods: The current survey was planned and executed by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of a tertiary care teaching institution of Tamil Nadu during February to July 2015 using a pre-designed questionnaire among 177 study participants. Inclusion criteria were 18 years and above, non-pregnant and consenting for the survey. Women seeking the antenatal care were excluded from this study. The study population consisted of women seeking family planning services at Obstetrics and Gynecology Department.

Results: The traditional risk factors for development of cervical cancer were observed in a considerable proportion of the study participants. Sexual debut earlier than 20 years was very common mentioned by nearly 67% of participants. Majority of study participants i.e. more than 50% had multiple sexual partners. About 32% of the study subjects felt that they were at no risk of developing cervical cancer and 34.5% felt no need for screening for the condition. Of women perceiving themselves to be at risk of cancer of the cervix, 80% expressed the need for cervical cancer screening compared to 58.75% of those who had no opinion on own risk.

Conclusions: self-perception of not being at risk is documented to be associated with low uptake of screening. Concerned health education programs need to bring clearly to the end user the difference between precancerous lesions and invasive cervical cancer and the treatment options available.

References

Sankaranarayanan R, Budukh AM, Rajkumar R. Effective screening programmes for cervical cancer in low- and middle-income developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2001;79:954-62.

Nene BM, Jayant K, Malvi SG, Dale PS, Deshpande R. Experience in screening for cervical cancer in rural areas of Barsi Tehsil (Maharashtra). Indian J Cancer. 1994;31:34-40.

Sankaranarayanan R, Rajkumar R, Arrossi S, Theresa R, Esmy PO, Mahe 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.

Parkin DM, Bray F, Ferlay. Estimating the World Cancer Burden: Globocan 2000; Int. J. Cancer. 2001;94:153-6.

World Health Organization. Control of Cancer of the Cervix Uteri; WHO Bull. 1986;64:607-18.

Sankaranarayanan R, Nene BM, Dinshaw KA, Mahe C, Javant K, Shastri SS. A cluster randomized controlled trial of visual, cytology and human papillomavirus screening for cancer of the cervix in rural India. Int J Cancer. 2005;116:617-23.

Obiechina NJ, Mbamara SU. Knowledge attitude and practice of cervical cancer screening among sexually active women in Onitsha, southeast Nigeria. Niger J Med. 2009;18(4):384-7.

Mutyaba T, Mmiro F, Weiderpass E. Knowledge, attitudes and practices on cervical cancer screening among the medical workers of Mulago Hospital, Uganda. BMC Medical Education. 2006;6(1):13.

Basu P, Sarkar S, Mukherjee S, Ghoshal M, Mittal S, Biswas S. Women's perceptions and social barriers determine compliance to cervical screening: results from a population based study in India. Cancer Detect Prev. 2006;30(4):369-74.

Winkler J, Bingham A, Coffey P, Handwerker WP. Women's participation in a cervical cancer screening program in northern Peru. Health Educ Res. 2008;23(1):10-24.

Nene B, Jayant K, Arrossi S, Shastri S, Budukh A, Hingmire S. Determinants of women’s participation in cervical cancer screening trial, Maharashtra, India. Bull World Health Organ. 2007;85(4):264-72.

Gatune JW, Nyamongo IK. An ethnographic study of cervical cancer among women in rural Kenya: is there a folk causal model? Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2005;15(6):1049-59.

Gichangi P, Estambale B, Bwayo J, Rogo K, Ojwang S, Opiyo A. Knowledge and practice about cervical cancer and Pap smear testing among patients at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2003;13(6):827-33.

Dinshaw K, Mishra G, Shastri S, Badwe R, Kerkar R, Ramani S. Determinants of compliance in a cluster randomised controlled trial on screening of breast and cervix cancer in Mumbai, India. Oncology. 2007;73(3-4):154-61.

Chumworathayi B, Limpaphayom K, Srisupundit S, Lumbiganon P. VIA and cryotherapy: doing what's best. J Med Assoc Thai. 2006;89(8):1333-9.

Downloads

Published

2016-12-27

How to Cite

Jayaraman, L., K., M., Khichi, S. K., Singh, A., Goel, S., Roy, A., K., J., & Goyal, P. (2016). Self-perceived risk and barriers to cervical cancer screening among patients seeking care at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Tamil Nadu. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 4(3), 766–769. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20160515

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles