Papanicolau screening test practices in health professionals

Abstract

Pap test is the most effective approach to reduce mortality and morbidity of uterine cervix cancer. The objective of this transversal study is to evaluate the knowledge about Pap test and its practice among nurse assistants. The study sample was randomized from female employees of Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, aged 40-69 years-old. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in 95 nurse assistants (mean age: 46.7 ; SD: 5.5). Ninety (94.7%) women reported having practiced Pap screening test. Regarding the knowledge about the purpose of the test, only 39 (41.0%) referred the detection or prevention of uterine cervical cancer. On the other hand, 91 (95.8%) of the nurse assistants believe the ideal periodicity for Pap smear should be 1 year or less, and 45 (47.4%) said that it should be done every 6 months. Conclusions: Despite the fact that most nurse assistants do not know exactly about the
purpose of Pap test, their practice is greater than in general population. These health professionals also believe that the frequency of the test is much higher than the one preconized in the medical literature.