Knowledge, attitude and practice of cervical cancer among female staff in outpatient department at Prince Mansour Military Hospital in Taif city, Saudi Arabia

Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is one of the serious diseases that affect women's lives. Fortunately, cervical cancer is a preventable and treatable disease; early detection has reduced its mortality and morbidity worldwide. Objective: To investigate the level of KAP of CC among female staff in outpatient department at Prince Mansour Military Hospital in Taif city, KSA. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. An English and Arabic based questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was collected through interviews with the female staff in the OPD by forms in iPad or smart phones. Results: The study included 303 participants, 90.76% have Bachelor degree and 2.97 had doctorate (PhD). 27.06% were physicians and 24.75% were nurses. Participants with good knowledge were 60.73% while who have poor knowledge were 39.27%. Concerning the opinion the studied population on cytological examination; 53.47% think that she should undergo cytological examination. Regarding the previous vaccination from the HPV; 5.61% only were vaccinated, 9.5% don't know and 84.82% reported that they were not vaccinated. There was a substantial relationship between the knowledge level groups and level of education, job title and whether the residence (inside or outside the Taif city) of the studied population (P<0.05). Conclusion: in the current KAP study, the overall knowledge, cervical cancer was moderate, the practice of the HPV vaccination was very low and there was a moderate attitude toward the cytological examination and Pap smear.