Department of Community Medicine, SS Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Davangere, Karnataka, India
*Corresponding author: Santosh Achappa, Post-graduate, Department of Community Medicine, SS Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Davangere, Karnataka, India. E-mail- santoshkottur@gmail.com, Mob: +919901340092
Online published on 27 May, 2015.
To find out the level of awareness about cervical cancer and its risk factors among the students of women's college in Davangere
This cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 2 months (6th January to March 6th 2012) among 307 students of a Government first grade women's college.
A self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was applied to assess the various components of awareness about cervical cancer and its risk factors. Statistical analysis used: Descriptive Statistics and chi Square test using SPSS Version 16.0
About 118 (38%) of the students had heard of cervical cancer and among them about 21% mentioned the causative agent as Human Papilloma Virus; only 9% had heard about use of Pap smear test; about 52% were aware of the availability of vaccine for prevention; majority had below average awareness level in terms of age and place of residence (below 20 years 75% and above 20 years 81%) and (76% of the rural respondents and 79% of the urban respondents) respectively.
Majority of the students were unaware of cervical cancer and its risk factor and among those who were aware the knowledge regarding the risk factors was found to be low. Hence as a matter of concern it needs a responsible effort to improve the awareness in them.
Awareness, Cervical Cancer, Pap Smear
