| Abstract |
Cervical cancer is the second most dangerous threat to women that not only lead to a loss of pregnancy, but can even be life threatening. 12.9 percent of all cancer deaths among women are also due to this cancer. Unfortunately, 80% of women who are first diagnosed with cervical cancer are already at serious stage and cannot be treated properly even though cervical cancer screening programs such as Pap Smear have existed since 1943. Statistics released by the Ministry of Health Malaysia through the 2003 National Cancer Registry Report showed, even after the implementation of the Pap Smear program, the incidence rate of cervical cancer has increased where in 1990 the incidence rate was 13.3 per 100,000 women compared to 19.7 per 100,000 women in 2003. This illustrates that the Pap Smear program in Malaysia is not comprehensive and not practiced by those who need it which is women who have started sexual activity.
Therefore, the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) has conducted a study in relation to cervical cancer screening or Pap Smear test. This study aimed to provide information on sociodemographic characteristics and reproductive history, women’s awareness on pap screening tests, women’s risk perceptions of cervical cancer, women’s attitudes towards the importance of Pap Smear testing and prevalence of Pap Smear screening test practice. This cross -sectional study was conducted in the Klang Valley, Melaka, Perak and Terengganu using purposive sampling. The total sample was 1000 people. The study population consisted of once married women aged between 20-65 years. This includes married women, widows and widowers. The conditions for rejecting the sample are ineligible women, such as unmarried women, non-Malaysian citizens and women who have had cervical cancer.
The collection of research data is through interviews based on the text of the questionnaire provided. Respondents will be interviewed by interviewers who have been trained to obtain accurate information. To achieve the objectives of the study, the analysis used is descriptive analysis, chi-square test and t test. Therefore, based on the analysis that has been conducted, the prevalence of female Pap Smear test is 55.2 percent. Respondents showed a positive attitude when asked about the importance of Pap Smear test compared to other examinations, many of whom thought that this test was very important (92.7 percent). Only 4.2 percent considered the Pap Smear test not important and there were a few who could not provide certainty about its importance (3.1 percent). Not many can measure the risk they are facing to get cervical cancer as 377 (41.5 percent) people are unaware of the cancer risk they are facing. However, there were a total of 276 (30.4 percent) women who were confident that they were not at risk at all. Only 7.7 percent received a high risk of this cancer, moderate risk (5.6 percent) and low risk (14.9 percent). |
