Perceptions and attitude of women of Luderitz, Namibia on Pap smear and cervical cancer prevention

BMC Women's Health

Table 3 Perception of Cervical cancer, Pap smear, risk factors, and prevention amongst women

Variables	Responses	Frequency	%
Use of Pap smear (multiple responses)	To treat sexual transmitted disease	6	4.7
	To screen for cervical cancer	111	87.4
	Cleaning of the womb	9	7.1
	Removal of womb	3	2.4
	To screen for infertility	6	4.7
	Don't know	4	3.1
	Other use*	1	0.8
Total		127	100.0
Risk factors (multiple responses)	Single response	45	35.7
	Two responses	109	86.5
	One of the correct responses	59	46.8
	Two correct responses	10	7.9
Do you think you are at risk	Yes	72	52.9
	No	54	39.7
	Don’t know	10	7.4
Prevention methods (multiple responses)	Avoiding multiple sexual partners	61	48.4
	Avoiding early sex debut	32	25.4
	Quit smoking	33	26.2
	Regular screening	94	74.6
	HPV vaccination	21	16.7
	Non oral contraceptive	5	4.0
	Other prevention methods**	7	5.6
Treatment available for cervical cancer	Yes	107	84.9
	No	14	11.1
	Don't know	5	4.0
Total		126	100.0

*Other use included bladder cancer (0.8%)
** Others included don’t use soap (1.6%), Use protection during intercourse (2.4%), using clean toilets (1.6%)

ISSN: 1472-6874