National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
College of Nursing, Baekseok Culture University, Cheonan-si, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2021 Oct 5;16(10):e0257529. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257529. eCollection 2021.
This study aimed to identify the distinct barriers and knowledge level of cervical cancer screening among female university students and establish intervention strategies to overcome these barriers.
This study used a mixed-methods design with 26 female university students aged 20-29 years. We first conducted a quantitative online survey for the same study participants, divided them into three groups, and conducted focus group interviews (FGIs). Group A: participants who had sexual experience and had undergone cervical cancer screening; Group B: participants who had sexual experience and had not undergone cervical cancer screening; Group C: participants who did not have sexual experience and had not undergone cervical cancer screening.
The participants' ages were 21.92 ± 1.26 years. The knowledge levels for cervical cancer and screening were low to moderate. The four main themes that emerged as barriers to cervical cancer screening through the FGIs were: 1) socio-cultural barrier: conservative social perception of unmarried women's sexual life, 2) knowledge barrier: lack of knowledge and information, 3) psychological barrier: discomfort, and 4) practical barrier: time-consuming. The three themes identified for strategies were: 1) socio-cultural intervention: changing social perceptions and ensuring confidentiality, 2) educational intervention: improvement of knowledge and accessibility, and 3) alternative screening intervention: comfortable screening methods.
While university students' sexual experience rapidly increased, the socio-cultural perceptions of sexual health remained closed, and they had a reasonably low level of knowledge about cervical cancer screening. Therefore, various strategies sensitive to female university students' culture should be implemented to increase the knowledge level, and social efforts should be made to change the socio-cultural perception of unmarried young women's sexual health.
本研究旨在确定女大学生宫颈癌筛查的独特障碍和知识水平，并制定克服这些障碍的干预策略。
本研究采用混合方法设计，共纳入 26 名 20-29 岁的女大学生。我们首先对同一研究参与者进行了定量在线调查，将他们分为三组，并进行了焦点小组访谈（FGI）。A 组：有性经验且已进行宫颈癌筛查的参与者；B 组：有性经验且未进行宫颈癌筛查的参与者；C 组：无性经验且未进行宫颈癌筛查的参与者。
参与者的年龄为 21.92 ± 1.26 岁。对宫颈癌和筛查的知识水平为低至中度。通过 FGI 发现，宫颈癌筛查的四个主要障碍主题为：1）社会文化障碍：对未婚女性性生活的保守社会观念；2）知识障碍：缺乏知识和信息；3）心理障碍：不适；4）实际障碍：耗时。确定的三个策略主题为：1）社会文化干预：改变社会观念和确保保密性；2）教育干预：提高知识水平和可及性；3）替代筛查干预：舒适的筛查方法。
尽管大学生的性经验迅速增加，但对性健康的社会文化观念仍然封闭，对宫颈癌筛查的知识水平也相对较低。因此，应针对女大学生的文化实施各种策略，以提高知识水平，并应做出社会努力改变对未婚年轻女性性健康的社会文化观念。
