AN INTERVENTIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE REGARDING CERVICAL CANCER AND ASSOCIATED PREVENTIVE MEASURES AMONG ADOLESCENT GIRLS OF AN URBAN AREA IN WESTERN INDIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/24246735.2023.8107Keywords:
adolescent, cervical cancer, HPV Vaccine, knowledgeAbstract
Cervical Cancer is one of the frequently occurring cancers among Indian women, next only to breast cancer. The prime causative agent, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), strikes young women in reproductive age group. Although screening test (Pap smear) for early diagnosis is available, HPV vaccine provides prevention which is better than cure. Objectives were to assess the awareness regarding cervical cancer and its preventive measures among the adolescent girls and to ascertain the changes in knowledge and vaccine acceptance as result of educational intervention. Interventional study was done in schools, selected as per convenient sampling technique. Sample size, estimated using 14% prevalence and 10% allowable relative error came at 1092. Total 1105 participants belonging to age group 10-19 years were surveyed. We found that most of the participants attained menarche between 13-15 years (52.7%) while 123 (11.1%) had not attained menarche. Only 279 (25.2%) participants had awareness about cervical cancer and only 5.4% knew about HPV vaccines as its preventive strategy. Assessment of post educational intervention knowledge showed an increase in cervical cancer awareness to 1080 (97.7%) and similar for vaccine acceptability. Still 46 (4.2%) girls are hesitant to take vaccine due to various reasons. Strong statistical association was found between education of mother and acceptability of vaccines. To conclude, adolescents and their parents had poor knowledge about the subject. Strengthening of grass root workers (Accredited Social Health Activists & Anganwadi Workers) of public health regarding the same will help to raise the acceptance. This knowledge can be spread by teachers through interaction & co curricular activities.
Downloads
References
Cancer awareness. Indian Cancer Society. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.indiancancersociety.org/what-do-we-do/awareness
Sreedevi, A., Javed, R., & Dinesh, A. (2015, April 16) Cited February 10, 2022. Epidemiology of cervical cancer with special focus on India. International Journal of Women’s Health, 7, 405–414. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25931830/. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S50001
Hantz, S., Alain, S., & Denis, F. (2006). Vaccins prophylactiques anti-papillomavirus: Enjeux et perspectives. Gynecologie, Obstetrique et Fertilite, 34(7–8), 647–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gyobfe.2006.05.008
Watson, R. A. (2005) Cited February 11, 2022. Human papillomavirus: Confronting the epidemic—A urologist’s perspective. Revista de Urologia, 7(3), 135–144. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC1477576.
Cervical cancer [Internet]. Retrieved February 10, 2022. https://www.who.int/health-topics/cervical-cancer#tab=tab_1
Cervical cancer: Statistics. Cancer.net [Internet]. Retrieved February 11, 2022. https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/cervical-cancer/statistics
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Cervical cancer elimination initiative. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.who.int/initiatives/cervical-cancer-elimination-initiative
Press Trust of India. (2023, January 29). Govt likely to float global tender for HPV vaccine in April; Merck ... India Today. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/govt-likely-to-float-global-tender-for-hpv-vaccine-in-april-2327789-2023-01-29
Serum Institute Of India - News. (n.d.). Www.seruminstitute.com. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://www.seruminstitute.com/news_sii_cervavac_launch_240123.php
Burki, T. K. (2023, March 16). India rolls out HPV vaccination - the Lancet oncology. The Lancet Oncology. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(23)00118-3/fulltext
Kaarthigeyan K. (2012). Cervical cancer in India and HPV vaccination. Indian journal of medical and paediatric oncology : official journal of Indian Society of Medical & Paediatric Oncology, 33(1), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.4103/0971-5851.96961
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Who updates recommendations on HPV vaccination schedule. World Health Organization. Retrieved May 2, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news/item/20-12-2022-WHO-updates-recommendations-on-HPV-vaccination-schedule
Lacroix, A. E., Gondal, H., Shumway, K. R., & Langaker, M. D. (2022). Physiology, Menarche. PubMed; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470216/#:~:text=Menarche%20is%20defined%20as%20the
Ramraj, B., Subramanian, V. M., & G, V. (2021). Study on age of menarche between generations and the factors associated with it. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 11, 100758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cegh.2021.100758
Abraham, O., Szela, L., Feng, E., Egbujor, M., & Gay, S. (2023, February). Exploring youth perceptions about cancer Prevention and preferences for education: A qualitative Study. Journal of Cancer Education, 38(1), 50–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-021-02077-0. Epub August 13, 2021. PubMed: 34387834, PubMed Central: PMC8360774
Ahlawat, P., Batra, N., Sharma, P., Kumar, S., & Kumar, A. (2018). Knowledge and Attitude of Adolescent Girls and Their Mothers Regarding Cervical Cancer: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of mid-life health, 9(3), 145–149. https://doi.org/10.4103/jmh.JMH_45_18
Burhan, M., Rahman, N. A. A., & Haque, M. (2021). Knowledge and attitude regarding cervical cancer and its prevention among young female adults in Kuantan, Malaysia. Journal of education and health promotion, 10, 332. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1454_20
Poudel, K., & Sumi, N. (2019, November). Analyzing awareness on risk factors, barriers and prevention of cervical cancer among pairs of Nepali high school students and their mothers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(22), E4382. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16224382, PubMed: 31717567, PubMed Central: PMC6888144
Thanasas, I., Lavranos, G., Gkogkou, P., & Paraskevis, D. (2022, January 3). The effect of health education on adolescents’ awareness of HPV infections and attitudes towards HPV vaccination in Greece. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 503. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010503, PubMed: 35010763, PubMed Central: PMC8744639
Shetty, S., Prabhu, S., Shetty, V., & Shetty, A. K. (2019). Knowledge, attitudes and factors associated with acceptability of human papillomavirus vaccination among undergraduate medical, dental and nursing students in South India. Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics, 15(7–8), 1656–1665. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2019.1565260. Epub February 20, 2019. PubMed: 30648913, PubMed Central: PMC6746474
Yam, P. W. A., Lam, P. L., Chan, T. K., Chau, K. W., Hsu, M. L., Lim, Y. M., Lo, C. H., Siu, L., Tang, H. F., Tong, A. M. J. M., & Yeung, W. L. (2017, June 25). A Cross Sectional Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice related to human papillomavirus Vaccination for Cervical Cancer Prevention between Medical and Non-Medical Students in Hong Kong. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention: APJCP, 18(6), 1689–1695. https://doi.org/10.22034/APJCP.2017.18.6.1689, PubMed: 28670890, PubMed Central: PMC6373786
Dorleans, F., Giambi, C., Dematte, L., Cotter, S., Stefanoff, P., Mereckiene, J., O’Flanagan, D., Lopalco, P. L., D’Ancona, F., Levy-Bruhl, D., & VENICE. (2010, November 25). The current state of introduction of human papillomavirus vaccination into national immunisation schedules in Europe: First results of the VENICE2 2010 survey. Euro Surveill., 15(47), 19730. https://doi.org/10.2807/ese.15.47.19730-en, PubMed: 21144444
Schülein, S., Taylor, K. J., König, J., Claus, M., Blettner, M., & Klug, S. J. (2016, September 20). Factors influencing uptake of HPV vaccination among girls in Germany. BMC Public Health, 16, 995. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3663-z, PubMed: 27645711, PubMed Central: PMC5028932
Masika, M. M., Ogembo, J. G., Chabeda, S. V., Wamai, R. G., & Mugo, N. (2015, August 12). Knowledge on HPV vaccine and cervical cancer facilitates vaccine acceptability among school teachers in Kitui County, Kenya. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0135563. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135563, PubMed: 26266949, PubMed Central: PMC4534439
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Smitul Vachhani
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Conference Proceedings of International Conference on Public Health is entirely Open Access, which means that all published content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this Proceedings journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
Authors who publish with Conference Proceedings agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the Proceedings of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this conference proceedings.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the proceeding's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this conference proceedings.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Licensing
Published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
