Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common types of female cancers in the world. In Saudi Arabia, few studies examined the awareness about cervical cancer and its screening, and it was found to be lower than seen in other developed countries.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted through a questionnaire and population was selected through a multistage stratified random sample of 450 government girls' high school teachers in Riyadh in November 2014.
Results: The overall relative score (% of correct answers) was 43.4%. Similarly, the percentage of correct answers was 27% in burden questions, 50.8% in risk factor questions, 35.4% in warning symptom questions, and 53.3% in prevention questions. Teacher education, age, and the number of children showed a trend of significant association with level of awareness (p = 0.007, p = 0.059, and p = 0.058, respectively). However, in multivariate linear regression, education was the only significant independent predictor of higher awareness (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The overall awareness of cervical cancer and its prevention among high school female teachers in Riyadh was relatively low. This was similar to the figures from developing countries but much lower than seen in developed countries. The finding may indicate the need to start national education programs to increase the knowledge and prevention of cervical cancer among female teachers.
Keywords: Cervical cancer, prevention, high school female teachers, Riyadh.
Key words: Cervical Cancer; Prevention; High School Female Teachers; Riyadh
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