title: Knowledge, attitude and practice of the pap smear as a screening procedure among nurses in a tertiary hospital in north eastern India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer of the uterine cervix is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide. Industrialized countries have dramatically reduced the incidence of mortality from cervical carcinoma in the last 50 years through aggressive screening programs utilizing pelvic examinations and Papanicolaou (Pap) smears but it still remains a major problem in the developing world.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was performed to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of Pap smear as a screening procedure among nurses in a tertiary hospital in north eastern India.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional study was carried out with a questionnaire survey covering the socio demographic factors, knowledge, attitude and practices about Pap smear screening among 224 nurses in Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur, India during December 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and twenty one participants (98.6%) had heard about cervical carcinoma but 18.3% lacked adequate knowledge regarding risk factors. Knowledge about the Pap smear was adequate in 88.8% of the respondents. Out of these, only 11.6% had Pap smear at least once previously. The most common reasons for non-participation in screening were lack of any symptoms (58.4%), lack of counselling (42.8%), physician does not request (29.9%) and fear of vaginal examination (20.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although knowledge of Pap smear as a screening procedure for cervical cancer is high, practice is still low. The nurses who should be responsible for opportunistic screening of women they care for are not keen on getting screened themselves. If we can improve the practice of Pap smear screening in such experts, they should be able to readily provide appropriate and accurate information and motivate the general population to join screening programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India. chami19854@gmail.com
authors.forename: Chamaraja
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thippeveeranna
authors.forename: Surekha Sadhana
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: Laiphrakpam Ranjit
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Naorem Nabakishore
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D065006:Papanicolaou Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*