Knowledge and awareness toward cervical cancer screening and prevention among the professional college female students

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting women. The five most frequent cancers affecting women in India are breast, cervical, oral cavity, lung, and colorectal cancer. More women die from cervical cancer in India than in any other country. Cancers of major public health relevance such as breast, oral, cervical, gastric, lung, and colorectal cancer can be cured if detected early and treated adequately. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer screening and prevention. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 professional college female students to obtain information about their knowledge and attitudes on cervical cancer screening and prevention. Results: In this study, we intended to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer screening and prevention among 100 professional college female students with a mean age of 18 years. All the respondents were single. Majority of the respondents were not aware about the cervical cancer, PAP smear testing, and human papillomavirus vaccine. Conclusion: These results indicate that most of the students participated in our study were not aware about the cervical cancer screening and prevention. Deaths resulting from cervical cancer are tragic as this type of cancer develops slowly, which is treatable and can be prevented through screening. Therefore, it is important that negative attitudes and gaps in knowledge should be addressed early before the women reach suitable ages for screening and vaccination.