Knowledge, attitudes, and practice related to cervical cancer screening among Kuwaiti women.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding cervical cancer screening among Kuwaiti women.


METHODS
A total of 300 married Kuwaiti women were randomly selected from those who visited the clinics irrespective of reason(s) for the visit. A structured questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and practice related to cervical cancer screening was administered.


RESULTS
Of the 300 women, complete information was collected from 281 (93.7%), the knowledge about the test was adequate in 147 (52.3%) women, while 86 (30.6%) had adequate attitude towards the test and only 67 (23.8%) had an adequate practice. The main reason given for not having had a Papanicolaou smear was that it was not suggested by the doctor. Among all the respondents 220 (78.7%) would prefer a female doctor to conduct the test. The level of education was the only significant factor independently associated with inadequate knowledge and attitude towards Papanicolaou smear test (p = 0.006 and p = 0.001, respectively) when adjusted for the effect of other factors in multivariate logistic regression analysis. However, age (p < 0.001), level of education (p = 0.028), and number of years since last visit with a gynaecologist (p = 0.005) were significant factors independently associated with inadequate practice of the test.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings showed that a well-designed health education programme on cervical cancer and benefits of screening would increase the awareness among Kuwaiti women.
Al Sairafi
Mona
M
Mishref Clinic, Hawalli Health District, Mishref, Kuwait. dr_manaalsaiyrafi@yahoo.com
Mohamed
Farida A
FA
D000328:Adult; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D007730:Kuwait; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult