Frequency of Pap smears Test and Attitude about It among Post Partum Women Referred to Alzahra Hospital in Rasht (2009)

Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among females worldwide and the most common in developing countries. It can be prevented through early diagnosis by cervical screening (Pap smear). The aim of this study was determination of Pap smear frequency and women's attitude about it. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study that assesses the frequency of Pap smear and women's attitude about it in Alzahra hospital in 2009. The subjects were postpartum women referred to the hospital. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisted of three parts; demographic information, attitude statements, and questions concerning to having or not having Pap smear. After data collection, chi-square, t-test and ANOVA were performed using SPSS version16. P<0.05 was determined as statistical significance level. In this study 225 women were assessed. The mean age of the women was 26±4.9 years. Data showed that 46 subjects (20.4%) had a Pap test. The mean score of attitude in women performing Pap smear was significantly higher than the other group. There were significant relationship between age (p=0.005), residency (p=0.004), job (p=0.0001), education level (p=0.0001), and number of pregnancies (p=0.01) with to practice of Pap smear test. There were significant relationship between age (p=0.0001), residency (p=0.0001), education level (p=0.0001), job (p=0.0001), number of pregnancies (p=0.02), marriage age (p=0.002), and insurance (p=0.0001) with score of attitude.Hindrance to practice of Pap smear included: embarrassment (20.8%), worry (23.6%), being painful (12.4%), being expensive (12.9%), fear of the test result (11.6%), lack of information on address of Pap test clinics (42.2%). Our results revealed that the majority of women do not have Pap test and the attitude of women doing pap is higher than those of not having the test. Regarding to the importance of Pap smear in preventing cervical cancer, widespread awareness for the women is recommended.