ANALYSIS OF CERVICAL CANCER AND AWARENESS OF PAP SMEAR TEST AMONG FEMALE POPULATION

Introduction: Cervical cancer is a female genital cancer that results from infection with the human papilloma virus, commonly serotypes 16 and 18. This infection results in transformation of the cervical epithelial cells, first to precancerous lesions and then to frank cancer. Aims and objectives: The main objective of the study is to analyze the cervical cancer and awareness of pap smear test among female population. Material and methods: This descriptive study was conducted in King Edward Medical University, Lahore during March 2018 to December 2018. This study was done with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. The data was collected from 100 female patients with age range 18 to 65 years. The data was collected through a questionnaire. This questionnaire include all the socio-demographic data of selected patients. Results: The data were collected from 100 female patient with mean age 39.5 +/- 7.3 years. More than two-thirds of respondents had 4-6 children, while only 1.0% of reported having more than one sexual partner in the last ten years, with the mean being 1.01 +/- 0.12 partners per respondent. Approximately 50.9% of respondents reported having heard about cervical cancer. Twelve and half percent believed the disease to be treatable, while 45.6% felt it could be prevented. Conclusion: It is concluded that there is a lower level of awareness of cervical cancer, and Pap smear test compared with reports from other parts of world. The major source of information about cervical cancer and Pap smear test was the media.