INTRODUCTION:

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that affects a woman’s cervix which starts in the cells lining the cervix and the cancer cells grow uncontrollably, forming a tumor that may spread to tissues around the cervix and may even break off and end up in other parts of the body¹.

During the early stages, cervical cancer is asymptomatic, but more severe symptoms, including abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, and pain during sex, appear during later stages. The Risk factors for cervical cancer include having multiple sexual partners, smoking, history of sexually transmitted diseases, continuous use of oral contraceptives, immune suppression, low socioeconomic status, and a previous history of vulvar or vaginal squamous dysplasia. Different approaches have been used for the prevention and control of HPV worldwide. These consist of primary (vaccination program), secondary (screening), and tertiary (treatment) approaches¹.

The infection of specific high-risk types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. Two high-risk HPV strains, HPV 16 and HPV 18, account for more than 80% of cervical cancer cases. The cancer has a significant morbidity and mortality rate, thus early identification and treatment are the only options. Cervical cancer incidence and mortality are also reduced by screening for precancerous lesions. The HPV vaccine and its timely administration reduces the incidence of cervical cancer².

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, is associated with cancers such as cervical cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and anal cancer. To date, more than 200 HPV types have been identified. HPV infections are transmitted primarily through skin-to-skin or skin-to-mucosa contact. Some HPV types mainly infect cutaneous tissues and induce warts, while other HPV types mainly target mucosal tissues of cervical and oral tracts³.

According to the 3-year cancer registry report, cervical cancer was the second most common cancer among women in the Bangalore registry area, accounting for 12.3% of all female cancers with a crude incidence rate of 13.1% and an age-adjusted incidence rate of 15.3%⁴.

Cervical cancer (cancer of the uterine cervix) was the fourth most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide during the year 2020, with an estimated 6,04,127 new cases and 3,41,831 deaths. In India, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women with 1, 23, 907 new cases, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women with 77,348 estimated deaths during 2020⁵.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the awareness of cervical vaccine among womens.

2. To determine the association between awareness and selected demographic variables of women.

HYPOTHESIS:

H1: there will be significant association between the awareness of cervical vaccine among women with their demographic variables.

METHODOLOGY:

Research Design: the research design selected for study was descriptive research design.

Sampling technique: convenience sampling technique

Sample: sample size was 62 patients attending obstetrics and gynaecology OPD at Bapuji hospital, Davangere.

Variables:

Study variable: awareness of cervical vaccine among women.

Demographic variables: age, education, occupation, family income, type of the family, religion are some demographic variables in this study.

Setting: The study was conducted in OBG outpatient department at Bapuji hospital, Davanagere.

Data Collection Technique:

Section A: This section deals with sociodemographic characteristics which includes age, education, occupation, family income, type of family and religion.

Section B: Structured questionnaire was prepared to assess the awareness of cervical vaccine among women attending OBG OPD at Bapuji hospital, Davangere.

RESULTS:

Section 1: Selected personal variables of the women.

Table 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of selected personal variables of women. N = 62

S. No.	Variable	Frequency	Percent
1.	Age
	20-29 years	35	56.5
	30-39 years	19	30.6
	40 years and above	8	12.9
2.	Education of mother
	No formal education	4	6.5
	Primary education	6	9.7
	High school	22	35.5
	PUC	10	16.1
	Diploma/Degree	20	32.3
3.	Religion
	Hindu	56	90.3
	Muslim	6	9.7
4.	Occupation of mother
	Housewife	36	58.1
	Coolie	7	11.3
	Private job	11	17.7
	Professionals	8	12.9
5.	Type of family
	Nuclear family	29	46.8
	Joint family	33	53.2
6.	HPV Vaccination
	Yes	0	0.0
	No	62	100.0

Table 2: Mean, and Standard Deviation of Age of the subjects N=62

	Mean	SD
Age of subjects (years)	30.08	6.969

Section 2: Awareness of women regarding cervical vaccine.

Table 3: Assessment of level of Awareness of women regarding cervical vaccine

Awareness level	Frequency	Percent
Inadequate awareness (<50%)	29	46.8
Moderate awareness (51-75%)	33	53.2
Adequate awareness (>75%)	0	0.0
Total	62	100.0

Table 4: Analysis of Mean, Mean % and Standard Deviation of Awareness Scores

	Max Score	Mean	Mean%	SD
Awareness	20	10.6	53.0	1.760

Section III: Association of awareness scores with demographic variables:

Association between awareness scores of women regarding cervical vaccine with their selected personal variables reveals that personal variables such as age in years, education, religion, occupation, type of family and HPV vaccination were not having significant association with the awareness scores regarding cervical vaccine.

CONCLUSION:

In this study which is designed to assess the awareness about knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV vaccine in females. In this people are accessing health care facilities for various reasons and also for master health checkup. Findings revealed that women have very less knowledge regarding cervical vaccine and none of the participants have receive cervical vaccine, hence there is a great need to impart knowledge among women’s. And also, as a primary prevention, we have to make all sexually active females to undergo pap smear or colposcopy examination every 3 years once. So that we can easily reduce the incidence of cervical cancer.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The following recommendations were made based on the results of the study.

· A similar study can be replicated on a larger sample with similar demographical characters.

· A study can be conducted to assess effectiveness of cervical cancer among females.

· A study can be conducted to assess the quality of life among women’s.

REFERENCES:

1. Minhas S, Sajjad A, Kashif M, Rehman Z, Idrees M, Ansari F, et al. Cervical cancer vaccination awareness and acceptance among the females of Punjab, Pakistan. Makara J Health Res. 2020; 24: 48-56. Available from: https://www.google.com/ search?q=1.+Minhas+S%2C+Sajjad+A%2C+Kashif+M%2C+Rehman+Z%2C+Idrees+M%2C+Ansari+F%2C+et+al.

2. Rehman A, Srivastava S, Garg PR, Garg R, Kurian K, Shumayla S, Rathi SK, Mehra S. Awareness about Human Papillomavirus Vaccine and Its Uptake among Women from North India: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2022; 23(12): 4307-4313. Available from: https:// www.google.com/search?q=2.+Rehman+A%2C+Srivastava+S%2C+Garg+PR%2C+Garg+R%2C+Kurian+K%2C+Shumayla+S%2C+Rathi+SK%2C+Mehra

3. Cheng L, Wang Y, Du J. Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: An Updated Review. Vaccines (Basel). 2020; 8(3): 391. doi: 10.3390/vaccines8030391. PMID: 32708759; PMCID: PMC7565290. Available from: https://www.google.com/ search?q=3.+Cheng+L%2C+Wang+Y%2C+Du+J.+Human+Papillomavirus+Vaccines%3A+An+Updated+Review.

4. Nyblade, L., Stockton, M., Travasso, S. et al. A qualitative exploration of cervical and breast cancer stigma in Karnataka, India. BMC Women's Health. 2017; 17: 58. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-017-0407-x

5. Muthuramalingam MR, Muraleedharan VR. Patterns in the prevalence and wealth-based inequality of cervical cancer screening in India. BMC Womens Health. 2023; 23(1): 337. Available from: https://www.google.com/search?q=5.+ Muthuramalingam+MR%2C+Muraleedharan+VR.+Patterns+in+the+prevalence+and+wealth-ba

Received on 28.05.2024 Modified on 29.06.2024

A and V Pub J. of Nursing and Medical Res. 2024; 3(3):109-111.

DOI: 10.52711/jnmr.2024.25