J Gynecol Oncol | Volume 4, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access

Cervical Cancer Awareness among Women in North Jakarta

Permatasari NUI^1* and Rachmasari Putri HMA²

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sukapura Islamic Hospital, Indonesia
²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gatot Soebroto Central Army Hospital, Indonesia

^*Correspondance to: Nisa Utami Ika Permatasari 

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Abstract

Objective: To asses awareness of cervical cancer among women in North Jakarta, knowledge of the disease, awareness of the preventive measures, participation and barriers to attending the screening services. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey conducted at Sukapura and Cilincing Primary Health Care Services and Sukapura Islamic Hospital between October 2019 to February 2020. Results: A total of 400 women were included in the study. The mean age was 30 (± 8.6) year old. Most participants were married with more than one child. On the level of education, large number of participants graduated from high school. Among 6 questions of cervical cancer global knowledge, 74.75% have heard of cervical cancer which can be deadly. Around half of them knew it was caused by infection (56.75%) and screening availability for prevention existed (60.75%). There were 10 symptoms provided in the questionnaire and all of them were not known as the symptoms of cervical cancer by the participants. Even the contact bleeding only identified by 117 over 400 participants as the symptoms. Multiple sexual partners, poor immunity status, and uncircumcised sexual partner were the perceived risk factors. Given the knowledge of the participants, only 11.25% participants had the HPV vaccination, 16% had Pap’s Smear and 8.5% had VIA. The reasons for not attending the screening services were dominantly caused by the worrisome of the procedure discomfort. Conclusion: The low uptake of screening services despite the availability could result not only from the limited knowledge about the disease but also the fear of the procedure. A more aggressive campaign should be held to make sure women really understand the importance of cervical cancer screening and its benefits to women’s quality of life.

Keywords:

Cervical cancer; Cervical cancer prevention; Cervical cancer awareness; Indonesian women; Pap smear, VIA; Cervical cancer screening barriers

Citation:

Permatasari NUI, Rachmasari Putri HMA. Cervical Cancer Awareness among Women in North Jakarta. J Gynecol Oncol. 2021; 4(2): 1057.