Department of Virological Pathology, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South Africa.
Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 1;19(7):4210. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19074210.
Cervical cancer is mainly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Worldwide, knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer among women is reported to be inadequate. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of HPV and cervical cancer among women attending gynecology clinics at a tertiary hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. The study also intended to identify socio-demographic factors influencing women's knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer risk factors.
This was a clinic-based analytic cross-sectional study conducted among women aged 18 years and older. Participants were enrolled in the clinic waiting rooms while waiting to be attended to by the clinician. A self-administered questionnaire to assess knowledge of HPV, cervical cancer, and risk factors for developing cervical cancer was distributed to the participants.
A total of 527 women aged ≥18 years and older were randomly enrolled with a 99.8% response rate. Less than half (47.1%) of the participants had been previously screened for cervical cancer using a Papanicolaou (Pap) test. Few (18.8%) women correctly mentioned cervical cancer risk factors. Unemployed women were less likely to have correct knowledge of cervical cancer causes/risk factors (OR: 0.63; 95% CI 0.40-0.97) compared to employed women. Divorced/separated/widowed women were more likely to have good HPV knowledge compared to single participants (OR: 2.74; 95% CI 1.46-5.15).
From this study, it is evident that cervical cancer screening is very low, and women lack knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer disease symptoms and its risk factors. There is a need for policies to prioritize providing accurate information to the public to reduce cervical cancer morbidity and mortality.
宫颈癌主要由人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）引起。据报道，全球范围内，女性对 HPV 和宫颈癌的认识不足。本研究旨在评估比勒陀利亚一家三级医院妇科诊所就诊的女性对 HPV 和宫颈癌的认识和意识。该研究还旨在确定影响女性 HPV 和宫颈癌危险因素知识的社会人口统计学因素。
这是一项在比勒陀利亚一家三级医院的妇科诊所进行的基于诊所的分析性横断面研究。在等候医生就诊时，参与者在候诊室被招募入组。向参与者发放一份自我管理的问卷，以评估他们对 HPV、宫颈癌和宫颈癌危险因素的认识。
共有 527 名年龄在 18 岁及以上的女性被随机招募，应答率为 99.8%。不到一半（47.1%）的参与者曾接受过巴氏涂片（Pap）检测筛查宫颈癌。很少（18.8%）的女性正确提到宫颈癌的危险因素。与就业女性相比，失业女性对宫颈癌病因/危险因素的正确认识较少（OR：0.63；95%CI 0.40-0.97）。与单身参与者相比，离婚/分居/丧偶的女性对 HPV 的认识更准确（OR：2.74；95%CI 1.46-5.15）。
从这项研究中可以明显看出，宫颈癌筛查率非常低，女性对 HPV 和宫颈癌疾病症状及其危险因素的认识不足。需要制定政策，优先向公众提供准确信息，以降低宫颈癌的发病率和死亡率。
