Cervical Cancer Level of Knowledge of Women from 15 to 49 years in a Family Medicine Unit

Abstract

Objectives: to identify the level of knowledge about Cervical Cancer (CeCa) of women from 15 to 49 years of age in a family medicine unit. Methods: analytical and cross-sectional study made to 374 women, randomly selected, from 15 to 49 years from March 2015 to January 2017, who were beneficiaries of the Mexican Institute of Social Security assigned to the Family Medicine Unit no. 34 of Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico. To measure the level of knowledge of CeCa it was applied a questionnaire of 21 questions. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis by the χ2 and or calculation tests, a value of p<0.05 were statistically considered as significant. Results: the mean age was 33.24 years (±5.8 years); 51.9% had high school education or higher level. 71.7% had previously received information about CeCa, which 66.77% received it from health personnel. The level of knowledge was low in 13.10%, medium in 55.61% and high in 31.28%. Not having received previous information on CeCa (or 3.47, p=0.001) and an education level of high school or less (or 2.49, p=0.0039) was associated with increased risk for low levels of knowledge about the disease. Conclusions: the level of knowledge of CeCa in the studied population corresponded to a medium and low level, which represents an area of opportunity in the process of health education aimed to the population. The implementation of communication strategies that improve the transmission of the information to the patients is essential as well as the assessment of such actions impact.