Prevention of cervical cancer: On the awareness of women assisted in the municipality of Valparaiso de Goiás

Abstract

The cervix is covered by several layers of squamous epithelial cells
arranged in a very orderly manner. In neoplasms, this stratification
becomes disordered. Such disorder begins with progressive intraepithelial
changes that may develop into an invasive cancerous lesion
within 10 to 20 years. The central objective of this study was to identify
the awareness level among women assisted in the city of Valparaíso
de Goiás on the topic. This is a quantitative research in which data
was collected by means of a closed questionnaire applied to users
of a primary health care unit in the city of Valparaíso de Goiás, after
their signing of an Informed Consent Form (ICF). The results showed
that the health professionals who participate most with information
about the disease were nurses (30%) and community health agents
(CHAs, 18%). Approximately 48% did not receive any information.
The data suggests that there is a need for educational activities regarding
women’s health, which favors the adoption of preventive health
practices to avoid cervical cancer. The study concludes that there is
still a low level of participation by the users in educational activities
and it is necessary to provide training to health education teams, so
that they may undertake a joint work to reduce women’s health risks
and stimulate and provide guidance to women on the importance of
preventing uterine cervical cancer.