They were also asked about their beliefs regarding Pap smear screening and HPV ... Keywords: Cervical cancer, Pap smear, HPV, knowledge about cancer.
Knowledge and Beliefs Related to Cervical Cancer, Pap Smear Screening and HPV Vaccination among Women in Umm Al Qawain, UAE International Journal of Excellence in Healthcare Management ISSN: 1993-8659 Vol. 5, Issue 1
Haleama Al Sabbah, PhD Public Health Nutrition Department Zayed University, Dubai, UAE Alya Saeed Al Haran Department of Natural Science and Public Health College of Sustainability Sciences and Humanities Zayed University, Dubai, UAE Abstract Purpose: To assess the level of knowledge of women pertaining to cervical cancer, pap smear screening, and HPV vaccination in Umm Al Qawain (UAQ) in the UAE. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Umm Al Qawain (UAQ) hospital. The study was piloted before the real study on 10 women who visited the Dermatology Clinic, UAQ hospital. Cronbach's alpha was used to test the level of internal consistency, determined at more than 80%. Questionnaires were distributed to 80 women who visited the outpatient gynecology clinic in the period (22-31December 2013). In total, 53 women participated in the study, with a response rate of 66%. Women were asked several questions that assess their knowledge about cervical cancer and its risk factors. They were also asked about their beliefs regarding Pap smear screening and HPV vaccination. Analyses of data were done using SPSS version 20. Ch2 tests were used to compare differences at 0.05 alpha level. Findings: The level of knowledge on cervical cancer was for the most part poor (58.5%). Only 4 women (7.5%) were assessed to have a “good” level of knowledge, whereas 18 of them were assessed to have “fair” level of knowledge (34%). Age, marital status and occupation were not associated with the level of cervical cancer knowledge among the women participating, whereas the level of education was found to be significant (p
