Knowledge about cervical cancer among Polish and Finnish female students

The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of Polish and Finnish students about cervical cancer prevention and the factors influencing it.

427 women took part in the research, 175 of whom were Finns and 252 Poles. The questionnaire had 20 questions. The survey had three parts: (1) socio-metric, (2) a knowledge test-13 questions, (3) questions about the sources of knowledge and their evaluation. Statistical analysis was made using the SPSS 18.0 program. The impact of variables such as socio-metric values or knowledge sources on answers to individual questions was verified using the χ(2) test, while significance of these variables on the total score was assessed using ANOVA. The significance level was p<0.05.

Respondents' knowledge was low. On average both groups got just above 50% of the maximum of 13 points (Polish M=7.1, SD=2.24, Finnish M=6.85, SD=2.42, p<0.05). In both groups the percentage of correct answers was highest in the case of questions concerning cytological examination procedures. Factors such as major subject studied, whether or not cytological examination had been undergone had an important influence on respondents' answers.

There were differences between the studied groups of Polish and Finnish female students in levels of knowledge about cervical cancer, however, in both samples the levels were low. Due to Finns' marginal performance in the test, together with differences in the sources of knowledge and diverse cervical cancer prevention methods in studied countries, we concluded that knowledge in these domains is not indispensable for a successful cancer prevention programme. What is required, is trust in clinicians and implementation of recommended cancer prevention measures.