Knowledge and attitudes about Papanicolaou smear in women from Lima, Perú 2007

Abstract

Objectives. To determine the level of knowledge and attitudes about Papanicolao (PAP) smear and associated factors in fertile women from Lima, Peru. Material and methods. Cross sectional survey, was a cluster sampling using a questionnaire validated by expert opinion, which was 22 items, 6 multiple choice questions, 9 open and 7 Likert scale. Was found low knowledge and negative or indifferent attitude using multiple logistic regression. Results. Included 502 women, with an average age of 27 ± 8 years. 15% started having sex before 15 years and 14% had three or more sexual partners. The prevalence of a low level of knowledge on the PAP smear was 24.9% (CI95: 21.0-28.7%), which was associated with a lower education level (ORa: 3.1; CI95: 1.0-4.1) and a history of inadequate PAP (ORa: 2.8, 95CI: 1.6-4.9). The prevalence of a negative or indifferent attitude toward the taking of the PAP was 18.7% (CI95: 15.2-22.2%), which was associated with low knowledge of the PAP (ORa: 9.0; 95CI: 3.1-26.8), as well as a lower educational level (ORa: 3.2; 95CI: 1.3-7.9), inadequate history of PAP (ORa: 2.0; 95CI: 1.1-3.6) and having had more than two sexual partners (ORa: 2.6, 95CI:1.3-5.3).Conclusions. A lower educational level and inadequate history of PAP were associated with poor knowledge and negative attitude towards PAP smears in women from Lima.