Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre el test de Papanicolaou y caracterización sociodemográfica y ginecológica de mujeres entre 18 y 49 años de la comunidad Oñacapac, Saraguro 2023

Abstract

Background: Papanicolaou test, used worldwide as a screening test for cervical cancer, allows to identify premalignant lesions of the cervix in women who have had sexual intercourse and are prone to this pathology. Objective: To identify knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the Papanicolaou test and sociodemographic and gynecological characteristics of 18- to 49-year-old women from Oñacapac village, in Saraguro 2023. Methods: This is a descriptive, prospective, and quantitative study on the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the Papanicolaou test and the sociodemographic and gynecological characteristics of 18- to 49-year-old women from Oñacapac village, in Saraguro. Data was collected through interviews tabulated using the IBM SPSS software, and it was analyzed using measures of central tendency, percentages, and frequencies. Results are shown in statistical tables. Results: Mean age was 29.58 years. Most of the population (64.5% are single, and 45.5% of them have completed secondary education; 93.5% identify themselves as indigenous people working in agriculture and livestock farming. Their level of knowledge was 66.55% (moderate); their attitudes, 77.14%, considered as favorable attitudes; and wrong practice, 46.09%. Conclusion: The village under study showed that the highest percentage of women featured a high level of knowledge and favorable attitudes. However, most of women showed a high level of bad practice.