A Study to Assess the Effect of Educational Interventions Regarding Prevention and Early Detection of Cervical Cancer on Knowledge and Attitude among Women Residing in an Urban Community

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer has an extreme possibility for secondary prevention but it remains a noteworthy cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Over 80% of the cervical cancer cases reported in the hospitals in an advanced stage and annually 80,000 deaths are reported in India. The main objective of this study to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding the prevention and detection of cervical cancer

Methodology: The research design was one group pretest-posttest Quasi-Experimental Design. Samples were the age group between 30-60 years attending Gynec OPD. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used. The total sample size was 501. A self-administered tool was used to collect the data. 

Results: The majority of the participants were observed in the age group between 30-45 years. Most of the participants had never got the information regarding cervical cancer and screening procedures. The majority of the participants (97 %) had never screened for cervical cancer.  Most of the participants had poor knowledge in the pretest and their knowledge increased to excellent in the posttest. There is a positive impact of education on participants in improving the attitude about screening for cervical cancer after attending education. There is a significant association between knowledge and attitude before and after intervention as P<0.0001.

Conclusion: A key strategy is to reduce the prevalence of cervical cancer is making women be educated about cervical cancer by using multimedia communication. Thus, the women are motivated for cervical screening and diagnosed at the precancerous stage. Therefore the systematic treatment can be started at an early stage to save the life of a woman.)