The effect of decision‑aid‑based counseling on cervical cancer screening behavior among women: An interventional study

Performing appropriate and regular screening can effectively reduce cervical cancer and mortality rate, however, the available evidence suggests that women’s participation in cervical cancer screening remains low in middle‑ and low‑income countries, and that it is necessary to identify appropriate intervention methods to change behavior. The present study was designed to determine the effect of decision‑aid‑based counseling on cervical cancer screening behavior among women.

This trial study was conducted on 154 women with no history of Pap smear during the past 3 years and refers to Tabriz health care centers. The participants were assigned to the intervention (decision aid based counseling) and control (routine health education) groups through randomized block design with block sizes of 4 and 6 and a 1:1 allocation ratio. The data were collected using the sociodemographic and fertility characteristics, stages of change checklist, and shared decision‑making (SDM) and decisional conflict (DC) questionnaire before and 6 months after the intervention by interview and then, analyzed by SPSS24 software. The independent t‑test, ANCOVA tests were used.

A significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of changing the stages of cervical cancer screening behavior 6 months after the intervention. As after the intervention, the frequency of individuals entered the preparation or action stage was more than the control group (P = 0.001). The mean score of SDM in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group after intervention ([45.49 ± 1.18] vs. [27.56 ± 1.18] [Mean Difference (MD): 17.92; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 14.59–21.25; P < 0.001]). The mean score of DC in the intervention group was significantly lower than the control group after intervention ([29.16 ± 1.09] vs. [34.14 ± 1.09] [MD: −4.97; 95% CI: 1.09–8.04; P < 0.002]).

This study revealed that evidence‑based information communicated between clients and clinicians has very important role in clients’ health‑related behavior. It is recommended, health care providers apply decision‑aid‑based counseling for promoting the cervical cancer screening behavior among women.