Level of Awareness Regarding Cervical Cancer Among Female Syrian Refugees in Greece

AbstractNowadays, prevention, control and treatment of cervical cancer are a worldwide public health priority. Primary objective of this study was to evaluate the level of awareness of female Syrian refugees who have recently settled in Greece regarding the warning signs and the risk factors of cervical cancer. This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study that was conducted in two facilities of the Hellenic Red Cross. The Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure questionnaire was addressed to 176 female Syrian refugees, aged between 18 and 50. Syrian women presented low awareness both for risk factors and warning signs. The most frequently identified warning signs were vaginal bleeding after menopause (44.3%), vaginal bleeding between menstruation (34.1%) and unexplained weight loss (32.4%). Regarding the risk factors ’ recognition rates, 74.5% considered the existence of many sexual partners as a risk factor and 61.3% the existence of a sexual partner with many previous sexual partners. Older age, a higher level of education and confidence that any potential symptom would be identified were associated with inc reased awareness. Our findings confirm former published reports that indicate poor awareness regarding cervical cancer among refugee populations. Full compliance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization for a national cervical cancer screening programme is highly advised in Greece and sh ould address the needs of both native and refugee populations. This researc...
Source: Journal of Cancer Education - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research