Jacques Choucair and Sara Abboud
Saint-Joseph University, Lebanon
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Cell Immunol
Objectives: The objectives of the study is to evaluate the knowledge of Lebanese women about cervical cancer (CC) and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. To measure the uptake of the cervical cancer screening test (Pap smear) and the uptake of HPV vaccination, and determine the influencing factors. Methods: 444 women with no medical background filled out a 32 item questionnaire. Collected data was analyzed in SPSS�® v. 21.0. Results: Results revealed that 45.7% aged 18 to 25 with high education qualifications (73.9%) and employed in a field not related to health (84.9%). They did not visit a general physician (64%) or a gynecologist (64.6%) regularly. 85.6% were aware of CC with a median CC symptom knowledge score of 3.00�±2.13. HPV infection involvement in the pathogenesis of CC was identified in 53.9% of cases. 35.6% of women were aware of HPV infection. The median HPV general knowledge score was 5.39�±2.38 and the median HPV vaccination score was 6.00�±2.41. 37.6% of participants had been screened by Pap smear for CC at least once in their lives whereas 9% did not know what a Pap smear was. Screening was significantly associated with CC awareness and regular visits to physicians. Only 11.7% of participants aged 18 to 35 were vaccinated against HPV. Vaccination uptake was significantly associated with CC awareness, religion, field of work and studies, and regular visits to gynecologists. Conclusion: Lebanese women residing in the urban communities are not well informed about CC and HPV. Screening by Pap smear and HPV vaccination uptakes are non-satisfactory. jacqueschoucair@hotmail.com
