title: Factors related to failure to attend the consultation to receive the results of the Pap smear test.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to identify the factors related to the failure of women to attend the follow-up consultation to receive the results of the Pap smear test.
  
  
  METHODS
  a cross-sectional study, carried out with 775 patients who underwent the Pap smear test in the Centro de Saúde da Família of Fortaleza, between September 2010 and February 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the majority of the women studied were young (≤35 years), had low levels of education (≤7 years of study), and commenced sexual activity early (≤20 years), with 17.0% of them failing to return to receive the test results. Statistically significant results for the failure to return were related to: young women (p=0.001); early onset of sexual activity (p=0.047); and inadequate knowledge about the Pap smear test (p=0.029).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the fact that the women failed to return for the result is a problem for the control of cervical cancer, and must be addressed through educational strategies that reinforce the importance of the return for the early detection of this cancer.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem, Faculdade de Farmácia, Odontologia e Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Camila Teixeira Moreira
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem, Faculdade de Farmácia, Odontologia e Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denise de Fátima Fernandes
authors.initials: Dde F
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: aff3.
authors.forename: Cássia Fernandes
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Enfermagem, Faculdade de Farmácia, Odontologia e Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Karina Bezerra
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nursing Research Development, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Namie Okino
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Sawada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult