Hoque Muhammad, Ibekwe C M, Ntuli-Ngcobo Busi
Department of Biostatistics, National School of Public Health, University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus), South Africa.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2009;10(6):1095-100.
The objectives of the study were to describe women's perceived severity to cervical cancer and its associations with socio-demographic characteristics.
A cross-sectional study was conducted by a questionnaire survey with a total of 300 participants selected by convenience sampling techniques.
The participants' mean age was 37 years (SD= 11) and the cervical cancer screening rate was 39%. Most of the women were sure about the severity of cancer as they responded mostly agreeing or strongly agreeing with statements about severity of cervical cancer. The range of average responses was 2.58 to 3.56. When the ever screened and the never screened for cervical cancer was compared, it was observed that both groups equally believed that there is effective treatment for cervical cancer, and that cervical cancer makes a woman's life difficult. Overall, 60% of the never screened had low perceived severity while 33% of the screened had high perceived severity to cervical cancer. There was no significant association between perceived severity and screening for cervical cancer (c2 = 1.0795; p = 0.2988). Monthly income (c2= 13.077; p<0001) and residential area (c2= 15.457; p= 0.004) were significantly associated with perceived severity.
The screening rate is still far too low compared to the national target of greater than 75%. Therefore, despite awareness of the perceived severity of cervical cancer, the reasons why at risk women fail to participate in cervical cancer screening need to be adequately explored.
本研究的目的是描述女性对宫颈癌的感知严重程度及其与社会人口学特征的关联。
采用问卷调查进行横断面研究，通过便利抽样技术共选取300名参与者。
参与者的平均年龄为37岁（标准差=11），宫颈癌筛查率为39%。大多数女性对癌症的严重程度有明确认识，因为她们大多对关于宫颈癌严重程度的陈述表示同意或强烈同意。平均回答范围为2.58至3.56。比较曾接受宫颈癌筛查和从未接受筛查的女性时，发现两组都同样认为宫颈癌有有效的治疗方法，且宫颈癌会给女性生活带来困难。总体而言，60%从未接受筛查的女性对宫颈癌的感知严重程度较低，而33%接受过筛查的女性对宫颈癌的感知严重程度较高。感知严重程度与宫颈癌筛查之间无显著关联（卡方=1.0795；p=0.2988）。月收入（卡方=13.077；p<0.0001）和居住地区（卡方=15.457；p=0.004）与感知严重程度显著相关。
与国家大于75%的目标相比，筛查率仍然过低。因此，尽管女性意识到宫颈癌的感知严重程度，但仍需充分探究高危女性未参与宫颈癌筛查的原因。
