TREND AMONG DOCTORS REGARDINGTHEIR OWN CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer can be prevented, by regular screening by a test, called Pap smearand the most important risk factor for cervical cancer is “never having been screened”. Screening for cancer of the cervix remains a neglected health care issue in Pakistan.

Objective: To assess the practices/ trends and attitude about personal Pap smear among female doctors working in field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study

Place of study: Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Lahore General Hospital Lahore.

Methodology: Five hundred lady doctors working in field of obstetrics and gynaecology were interviewed using a questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed by SPSS version 10.

Results: Only 3.60% of lady doctors ever had Pap smear and 1.40% had regular Pap smear.Mean age of respondents was 36 year. Only 08%were of parity more than five, mean age of marriage was 26 years and 1.4% were married twice. Oralcontraceptive pills user were 14.6%.The most common reasons of not having Pap smear were embarrassment (16%), busy schedule and considering that they do not have risk of cervical cancer (14 %)and lack of counseling / reminder (11.20%).

Conclusion: Female health professionals working in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology have negligible uptake of cervical cancer screening for their own selves despite being exposed to some of theimportant risk factors for carcinomacervix, which reflects their perception regarding importance of cervical cancer screening for women’s wellbeing. The results of this study may serve as a baseline for future comparisons. A larger community-based study may establish the exact trend, and will guide further planning in this regard.