Developing attitudes toward the prevention of cervical cancer

Cervical cancer which can be prevented with early diagnosis in women is an important women's health issue. For the prevention of cervical cancer, understanding the attitudes that influence a woman's decision about participation in early diagnostic tests is important. The purpose of this study is to develop an attitude scale which measures women's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills for the prevention of cervical cancer. This study is methodological research. Psychometric phase of the study was carried out selected using non-random sampling 530 adult women who diagnosis, treatment, and pap-smear test coming to the Sandıklı Community Health Center in Afyon between June 1, 2016 and Semtember 1, 2016. Data collecting A questionnaire form with 29 questions and a Cervical Cancer Prevention Attitude Questionnaire consisting of 39 questions were used. The data obtained by means of data collection in the research were transferred to the computer environment and analyzed with the help of "SPSS" statistical package program. Data were collected using the advertisement form and Cervical Cancer Prevention Attitude Scale. The scale validity and reliability test results are as follows: Content validity index based on expert opinion was 0,98. Exploratory factor analysis of the scale factor loadings were above 0,40; description of variance ratio was 55% were determined. The building of the scale was tree-dimensional with 22-item, confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha (α) reliability coefficients was 0,87. It is proposed that using the scale to measure attitudes towards cervical cancer prevention. For the test-retest reliability, 60 people were reapplied after two weeks. The correlation coefficients of all sub-dimensions of the test retest were above 0.95 and there was no statistically significant difference. The scale was developed to measure attitudes toward cervical cancer prevention. Key words: Attitude, Pap smear testin, Prevention of Cervical Cancer, Psychometric Testin, Scale development