Volume 24, Issue 103, May - June, 2020

Acceptance and merit of Pap. Test for prevention and early detection of cervical cancer among Saudi women in Hail Region

Fayez Saud Alreshidi¹, Rania Abdeen Hussain Abdalla¹, Hussain Gadelkarim Ahmed^1,2,3

¹College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Hail, Saudi Arabia
²Molecular Diagnostics and Personalized Therapeutics Unit, University of Ha’il, KSA
³Department of Histopathology and Cytology, FMLS, University of Khartoum, Sudan

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aimed to assess the acceptance of Pap. Test among Saudi women in Hail Region, Northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology: The present descriptive study assessed the perception and acceptance of 200 Saudi women toward Pap. Test. Only those 21 years old or older were included using a purposeful questionnaire. Results: Only 23% of the participants have experienced a previous Pap. Test (most were in the age range 35-44 years). Most of the women did the test were at an age older than 35 years. About 33% out of 155 responses indicated that they have ever heard about Pap. Test. About 54% of the participants didn't do Pap. Test before, claiming that doctors don't require it. Around 9.7% didn't do it because of social stigma. Only 2.6% attributed it to the unavailability of the test. Conclusion: Saudi women in Hail region have relatively lower acceptance for Pap. Test, which might be attributed to the lack of awareness and sustained cervical prevention and early detection programs.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Pap. Test, Human Papillomavirus, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2020, 24(103), 1669-1676

PDF