Awareness of Cervical Cancer, Risk Perception, and Practice of Pap Smear Test among Young Adult Women of Dhulikhel Municipality, Nepal

Table 2

Awareness of cervical cancer among the study participants.

Questions	Frequency	Percentage
Heard about cervical cancer ()	229	54.3
Know about the cause of cervical cancer ()	137	59.8
Causes of cervical cancer ()
Having more than one sexual partner	92	67.2
Having unsafe sex	92	67.2
Poor genital hygiene	82	59.9
Partner having more than one sexual relation	55	40.1
Having sex at young age	45	32.8
STIs	41	29.9
Having multiple unsafe abortions	39	28.4
Smoking	37	27
Intake of birth-controlling pills more than 5 years	35	25.5
HPV	28	20.4
Gynecological problems	12	8.7
Others	7	5.1
Know about the sign and symptoms of cervical cancer ()	113	49.3
Signs and symptoms of cervical cancer ()
Unpleasant vaginal discharge	101	89.4
Persistent lower back pain	51	45.1
Intermenstrual bleeding	44	38.9
Vaginal bleeding after menopause	39	34.5
Vaginal bleeding during and after sex	36	31.9
Stomachache	27	23.9
Others	6	5.3
Can cervical cancer be prevented ()	218	95.2
Preventive method of cervical cancer ()
Timely screening for cervical cancer	187	85.7
Safe sexual practice	94	42.9
Avoid smoking	46	21
Avoid early marriage and pregnancy	34	15.5
Maintaining personal and genital hygiene practice	33	15.1
HPV vaccination	30	13.7
Timely treatment of STIs	30	13.7
Use of condom while having sex	28	12.8
Do not know	7	7
Others	5	2.3
Can cervical cancer be treated ()	209	91.2
Treatment methods of cervical cancer ()
Hysterectomy	158	75.2
Chemotherapy	66	31.4
Medication	55	26.2
Pelvic exenteration	28	13.3
Radiotherapy	22	10.5
Do not know	13	6.2

Multiple responses. Abbreviations: STIs: sexually transmitted infections; HPV: human papillomavirus.