Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward cervical cancer among women attending Obstetrics and Gynecology Department: A cross-sectional, hospital-based survey in South India.

INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer-related deaths among women in India are often due to late diagnosis of disease. Knowledge about disease and early screening is the most effective measure for cervical cancer prevention. Lack of awareness, negative attitude, and poor practice about cervical cancer and screening are the major causes to increase the incidence of disease.

AIM: The study is designed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward cervical cancer, screening, and prevention.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional, hospital-based survey was conducted in women attending Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of a secondary care referral hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 403 subjects were enrolled and subjected for interview using prevalidated KAP questionnaire on cervical cancer.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics were used to represent the sociodemographic characteristics and KAP levels. Association of sociodemographic variables with KAP levels is determined using Chi-square test.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Most of (301; 74.6%) the respondents had heard about cervical cancer and majority of them are heard from media (168; 41.6%) and friends (83; 20.5%). Most women knew symptoms (259; 64.2%), risk factors (253; 62.7%), screening methods (310; 76.9%), and preventive measures (249; 61.7%) for cervical cancer. More than half of the women (252; 62.5%) having positive attitude toward screening. More than three-fourth of women (349; 86.6%) are not having practice toward cervical cancer screening. Sociodemographic characteristics are strongly associated with KAP levels.

CONCLUSION: Although women are having good knowledge, positive attitude toward cervical cancer screening and prevention still there is a gap to transform it into practice. There is a need for more educational programs to connect identified knowledge slits and uplift of regular practice of cervical cancer screening.