Awareness of cervical cancer screening among women in Serbia.
BACKGROUND
The success of cervical cancer screening programs in North America and Western Europe has led to their expansion into other regions of the world. As these services become available on a large scale in other countries, it is imperative to understand the background conditions that may present challenges to their effectiveness there.


METHODS
Women were recruited from two different areas in Central Serbia. Both focus group discussions and survey instruments were used to gauge participants' knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer screening issues.


RESULTS
Results were mostly similar to comparable studies performed in other regions. Education and economic status were not highly related to knowledge about cervical screening. The population sampled showed a broad lack of knowledge about the necessity of screening and shared attitudinal barriers with women in other regions.


CONCLUSIONS
The success of public awareness campaigns elsewhere suggests that a media-centered approach could have good results in Serbia. The lack of media attention noted in the study focus groups supports this conclusion.
Kesic
Vesna
V
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Center of Serbia, The University of Belgrade, Visegradska 26, 11000 Beograd, Serbia and Montenegro. vek@EUnet.yu
Markovic
Milica
M
Matejic
Bojana
B
Topic
Lidija
L
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015022:Yugoslavia