Conhecimento, atitude e prática das mulheres sobre a prevenção do câncer do colo uterino: um estudo com mulheres do município de Icó, Ceará.

Abstract

Cancer of the cervix is characterized by the disordered enlargement of the epithelium that lines the organ, affecting all the underlying tissue known as stroma. Although women seek more health services, in Brazil there is still a high incidence of death related to this type of pathology, being one of the types of cancer that affects the female population the most. The cytopathological examination, performed at the Basic Health Units, is used as a screening method for the precursor lesions of this cancer and indicates the direction of some health actions. Against this background, this study aimed to verify the knowledge, attitude and practice of women on the cervical cancer prevention exam in women from a municipality of Ceará. It was an exploratory study with a quantitative approach developed in the waiting rooms of the health units of the municipality of Icó. The study sample was random and composed of 379 women. The KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) survey previously used (MALTA, 2014), composed of 46 questions, was applied. The test performed to answer the study objectives was chi-square. The sociodemographic variables studied as potential variables associated with knowledge, attitude and practice were: age, marital status, schooling, religion, occupation, work and family income. In the sexual and reproductive history, the sexual life and the time of the beginning of the sexual intercourse were investigated, fixed partner, tubal ligation, condom use, contraceptive method, children, age of first child, abortion, Sexually Transmitted Disease, hysterectomy, pregnancy and cancer in the family. The data showed that in 49.9% of the women the knowledge was evaluated as inadequate. The inadequate attitude was in 46.2% of the women and the inadequate practice in 40.1%. (p = 0.016, higher among single women), schooling (p <0.001, higher among illiterates or incomplete primary education), income (p = 0.004, higher in the lower income group) Of a minimum wage, did not have a fixed partner (p <0.017) and had STD (p = 0.039). The education of women was the only variable associated with an inappropriate attitude (p = 0.003). The variables statistically associated with inappropriate practice were: marital status, age, work away from home, family income, no active sex life, lactation and having had the first child aged 25 years or more. As for the difficulties to perform the Papanicolaou exam at the HSF and receive the result had great prominence the delay of the result. From this research, the importance of health education about the problems related to cervical cancer and its prevention, as well as the need for the support of the managers, was perceived. We had some groups of women with greater risk to the problem studied, and should therefore be prioritized by health professionals and managers, with the active search of this group for the realization of conversation wheels. It is hoped that the results found may contribute to the improvement of the attendance of women and greater vigilance regarding the frequency of the examination, aiming at a greater comprehension of the women, satisfying their knowledge needs through the exchange of knowledge.