Factors Associated With the Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Family Medicine Physicians, Compared With Women of the Community in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cervical cancer is the ninth diagnosed cancer among Saudi women. The majority of cervical cancer cases occur in women who did not undergo screening. However, the screening rates in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, remain suboptimal. It is important to identify the factors associated with t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2024-01, Vol.16 (1), p.e53283-e53283
Main Authors: Alshehri, Hamdan D, Alqudah, Ola, Almadani, Firas B, Aldalbahi, Ahmed M, Jarrah, Omar A, Albashaireh, Ahmad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cervical cancer
Cronbach's alpha
Data collection
Employment
Family/General Practice
Health insurance
Insurance coverage
Low income groups
Marital status
Medical Education
Medical research
Medical screening
Medicine
Mortality
Pap smear
Participation
Preventive Medicine
Questionnaires
Womens health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cervical cancer is the ninth diagnosed cancer among Saudi women. The majority of cervical cancer cases occur in women who did not undergo screening. However, the screening rates in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, remain suboptimal. It is important to identify the factors associated with the uptake of screening and predictors of screening in order to increase the uptake rate. To determine the factors associated with the uptake of cervical cancer screening among family medicine physicians (FMPs), compared with women of the community. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the central region (Riyadh), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from February 2021 for 12 months on female physicians and women of the community. An electronic questionnaire was used to investigate the demographics of women and variables related to the uptake of screening. A total of 126 FMP and 127 women from the community were included. The factors affecting screening among FMP included age (P=0.013), health insurance (P=0.002), availability of Pap smear (P˂0.001), and physician encouragement (P˂0.001). The factors affecting the screening of community women included the availability of Pap smears (P˂0.001) and physician encouragement (P˂0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that physician encouragement of Pap smear was a significant predictor of screening among FMP (OR=8.26, P˂0.001) and community women (OR=6.67, P˂0.001). The perceived benefit was the only predictor for screening among FMP (OR=0.75, P=0.004). The uptake of cervical cancer screening was higher in the community women. The factors linked to the uptake differed among the two groups, but the support of doctors played a significant role in the likelihood of uptake, regardless of the group of women. It is recommended to enhance the guidance of medical personnel in recommending screening during clinic visits for the specific target group. Additionally, there should be increased education on the significance of screening and efforts to educate the community about cervical cancer and screening.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.53283