Frequency of gynecological complaints and knowledge, attitude and behaviors towards gynecological examination of women staffs in Ankara Ataturk Training and Research hospital

Gynecological complaints are the common causes of consult to family physicians. The main common gynecological complaints in women are; bleeding, menstrual irregularities, vaginal discharge, itching, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), dysuria, abdominal and pelvic pain, urinary incontinence, infertility and coital disorders. Periodic gynecological examination is very important for diagnosing diseases at early stage. Pap smear test is the most important part of the periodic gynecological examination. It is used to evaluate women especially in reproductive age and this is very important for preventive medicine. Cervical cancer is a disease that can be diagnosed early with pap smear test. We aimed to evaluate awareness of women staffs in our hospital about the importance of periodic gynecological examination and the frequency of gynecological complaints. The present cross-sectional study aims to investigate frequency of gynecological complaints and knowledge, attitude and behaviors of women staffs in Ankara Atatürk Training and Research Hospital towards gynecologic examination. Our study group comprised 403 women staffs who accepted to fill the questionnaire. 122 (%30.3) of participitants consult gynecology department for vaginal discharge, 45 (%11) for bleeding, 40 (%9.9) of participitants for coital disorders, 106 (%26.3) of participitants for menstrual irregularities, 1 (%0.25) of participitants for urinary incontinence, 61 (%15) of participitants for dysuria, 88 (%21.8) of participitants for abdominal/pelvic pain and 5 (%1.2) of participitants consult gynecology department for infertility. 318 (%78.9) of participitants don't have periodic gynecologic examination and 85 (%21.1) of participitants have periodic gynecologic examination. 124 (%43.2) of participitants have had HPV DNA or pap smear test whereas 279 (%56.8) of participitants have never had HPV DNA or pap smear test. 10 (%2.5) of participitants have received HPV vaccine and 393 (%97.5) of participitants have not received HPV vaccine. There is no statistically significant difference in standard of knowledge between age groups. There is no statistically significant difference in standard of knowledge between specialists, assistant doctors, nurses and midwifes, but there is difference between other women staffs and specialists, assistant doctors, nurses and midwifes on behalf of latter. There is statistically significant difference between university degree holders and primary education and high school graduate on behalf of university degree holders. There is statistically significant difference between postgraduate and primary education and high school graduate on behalf of postgraduate. As a result preventive medicine has a distinct position in the primary care. Cervical malignancy of the urogenital tract is one of the rare preventable cancers by screening tests. In the primary care set up every effort should be supported in order to improve the awareness of women particularly who are at the risk group. Key Words: Gynecological Complaints, Gynecological Examination, Preventive Medicine, Family Medicine