The impact of education on women's knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in cervical cancer and participation in screening program

Despite the screening studies carried out in Turkey, a significant portion of cervical cancers are caught at an advanced stage. For this reason, it is very important to increase the awareness of women about cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of a training program prepared for women's needs on cervical cancer awareness, knowledge levels and screening behaviors. The first evaluation form was applied to 238 women between the ages of 30-65 who are trainees of Balçova and Narlıdere Public Education Center in İzmir province and all participants were given written training material (brochure) on cervical cancer awareness and screening program obtained from the website of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health Public Health Institution Cancer Department was provided. Of these centers, Narlıdere (n=122) was determined as the intervention group and Balçova (n=116) as the control group, and a visual training model based on an interactive presentation, which lasted about one hour, was applied to the intervention group, which was prepared on the basis of the Health Belief Model (HBM). The Post-Training Evaluation Form was applied to the intervention group right after the training to determine the effects of the training. Six months after the training intervention, both the intervention group and the control group were reached by phone and the Telephone Evaluation Form was applied. Before and after the training, knowledge scores (p<0.001) and HBM scale scores (p<0.001) increased significantly in the intervention group. When these parameters are compared with the control group, their knowledge level (p<0.001) and screening rates (p=0.003) are significantly different in favor of the intervention group. When evaluated in terms of HBM scale scores, there is a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the perception of Health Motivation of the scale (p<0.001), but no significant difference was found between the two groups in the other four sub-dimensions. Although the education given has been found to be effective in increasing the awareness of cervical cancer and creating behavioral change, additional studies are needed to generalize these results to the society and to determine the cost effectiveness.