AbstractBackground: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers among women Worldwide and the leading cause of cancer mortality in women in India.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge of cancer cervix and the practice of Pap smear test among women in a rural area.
Methods: The awareness and screening for cancer cervix using Papanicolaou smear test among women were studied in 526 women at 9 different health centers in a rural area near Rajahmundry from March 5th, 2021 to March 10th, 2021 with a questionnaire survey of history, assessment of knowledge about cancer cervix, attitude and practice of Pap smear testing & HPV vaccination followed by clinical examination and screening using pap smear test.
Results: During the study period, a total of 526 women were surveyed, out of which screening was done in only 394 women. Most of the women belong to 30-39 years (37.2%). Distribution of the women based on socio-economic class, occupation, parity, symptoms, clinical examination, knowledge about cervical cancer, and the results of pap smear tests were also studied out of which vaginal discharge seems to be the most common symptom (15.2%), the cervical examination was normal in 91.6%, 77.3% had awareness about cancer cervix and 41.4% of participants had adequate knowledge about Pap smear test.
Conclusion: Awareness about cancer cervix was adequate but the awareness & the rates of pap smear testing and HPV vaccination in this area are far lower than in urban areas due to less exposure to health care information.