CORRELATION BETWEEN CERVICAL CANCER KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF PAP SMEAR IN MALANG CITY

Background. Cancer of the cervix uteri is the 4th most common cancer among women worldwide, ranks as the 2nd cause of female cancer and 2nd most common female cancer in women aged 15 to 44 years in Indonesia. The majority of cervical cancer is late to diagnose as not having symptoms. Therefore it is important to do cervical screening. The most common test used for cervical abnormality screening in general population is conventional Pap smear. Purpose. This study aims to determine the women’s awareness of the Pap smear, which is associated with the level of knowledge about cervical cancer in Malang city. Material and Methods. This study was an observational study analytic with cross sectional approach. The research instrument used in this study is a structured questionnaire about the identity of respondents, Pap smear awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer. Data were analyzed by SPSS for windows using the χ2 (chi square) test, with α = 5 %. Result. Among 100 respondents included in the inclusion criteria, 32 respondents were ever examine Pap smear, while 68 respondents never examine Pap smear. Most of the respondents were in good knowledge about cervical cancer and Pap smear, and most of the respondents were aware about Pap smear. Correlation coefficient by χ2 test is 0,034, which it means there are strong relationship between knowledge of Carcinoma cervix and Pap smear awareness Conclusion The level of knowledge about cervical cancer affects the awareness of doing a pap smear