Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable neoplasia in females. It is the second most common cancer in females with 80% occurrence in the developing countries. It has been predicted that incidence of cervical cancer would increase in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness levels of women in Saudi Arabia about cervical carcinoma. Methodology: Total of 415 randomly selected women aged 20–35 years participated in the study in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July 2018. The study was based on a self-administered closed-ended questionnaire consisting of 32 questions assessing the knowledge and awareness about cervical carcinoma. Results: About the general knowledge of cervical carcinoma, this study found that the mean of the general knowledge toward cervical carcinoma was low. The highest knowledge among women in Saudi Arabia was “Heard of cervical cancer” (94%), while the mean of lowest was “Had direct contact with the disease” (20%). Among participants, 51.8% knew that cervical cancer can be a terminal illness, and 26% knew that cervical cancer is associated with an infection. Conclusion: These results showed that the majority of the participant's general knowledge towards cervical carcinoma was low. The majority of cases heard about Pap smear although there was high knowledge among women in Saudi Arabia about the vaccine against cervical cancer that contains Human Papilloma virus. More studies and investigations in this field are recommended since cervical carcinoma is preventable when approached properly.

Key words: Cervical carcinoma, pap smear, cervical cancer, human papilloma virus.