Pap Smear Screening Participation Behavior and Related Factors in Married Immigrant Women

This study's aim was to investigate participation in Pap smear screening among married immigrant women and their behavior and its related factors.

A survey was conducted among 165 married immigrant women in Gyeongsangnam-do from January 1 to March 20, 2010.

Results in this study showed that 51.5% have never participated in Pap Smear screening. Among those who have participated in the Pap Smear screening, 10.9% had regular screening, while 37.6% had irregular screening. Pap smear screening behavior was significantly different according to the experiences in health checkup (chi-square=34.009, p<.001) , whether or not there was a hospital the woman regularly visited (chi-square=7.768, p=.021) and perceived barriers (F=3.214, p=.043).

For improvement of Pap smear participation, this study proposes to develop various nursing intervention programs which can improve perceived barriers in regards to the related variables. In addition, it is necessary to come up with a strategy to advertise the participation in Pap smear screening in a systematic and continuous manner in order to raise womens' awareness and to make married immigrant women realize the importance of regular Pap smear screenings.