KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CERVICAL CANCER AND AWARENESS OF PAP SMEAR SCREENING AMONG FEMALE NURSES IN HOSPITAL PAKAR SULTANAH FATIMAH Authors: Ruzila R, Azlina D, Siti Salmiah S, Noraini A, Rohayu M, Nazrah A. Institution :Nursing Unit, Hospital Pakar Sultanah Muar Johor P-151 NMRR ID:20-3008-56270 Introduction To have a successful cancer control program, nursing staff must be aware of facts about cervical cancer and screening tests themselves. This study was aims to assess the level knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness of Pap smear screening among female nurses in HPSF Methodology A descriptive cross-sectional study, a self- administered semi structured questionnaire, and selected by stratified random sampling method, involved the 239 registered nurses who worked in HPSF. IBM SPSS was used for data analyzed. Results Demographic background among nurse Table 1: Demographic characteristic (n=239) To determine the level of knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness of Pap smear screening. Figure 1: Level of knowledge about cervical cancer (n=239) Figure 2: Level of awareness of pap smear screening(n=239) To identify the association between experience working, knowledge about cervical cancer and awareness of Pap smear screening. Table 2: Association between years of experience working and level awareness (good level and poor level) among participants using simple logistic regression Variables Frequency (%) Mean Age 37.13* Experience working 12.79* Deparment Medical 62( 24.2%) Surgical and Orthopaedic 49(19.1%) Obsetric and Gynae 50( 19.5%) Paediatric 40(15.6%) Multidispline 27(10.5%) Anaesthesia 28(10.9%) Race Malay 252(98.4%) Chinese 1(4%) India 2(8%) Others 1(4%) Maritul status Married 250(97.65%) Widow 6(2.35%) Education Diploma 239(93%) Degree 18(7%) Attended CNE Yes 132(51.6%) No 124(48.4%) Parity 0 17(6.64%) 1 32(12.5%) 2 80(31.25%) 3 82(32.03%) 4 38(14.84%) 5 6(2.34%) 6 1(0.40%) Variable Crude OR (95%CI) P value Experience working 0.926 (0.871,0.985) 0.014 Discussion Cancer cervix is preventable, and one of important aspects is prevention in detection of the premalignant lesion by screening[1]. This study show that majority of the participants have a good knowledge about cervical cancer and most of the participants have a moderate awareness of the Pap smear screening. Moreover, if nurses themselves undergo screening tests regularly, they can be role models for other females in carrying out cervical cancer screening tests[2,3]. The association between years of services and level awareness were significantly (P=0.014). This also implise that more important in teaching curriculum and training programs should be incorporated about cancer cervix and screening[2]. Conclusion Knowledge about cancer cervix, screening and practice of Pap smear is good among female nurses in HPSF. Nurses, if properly aware of cervical cancer and screening methods, can educate the women in the community and increase health-seeking behaviour among eligible women. References [1] Ministry of Health Malaysia, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia. Clinical Practice Guidelines. Management of Cervical Cancer. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health Malaysia;2003. [2] World Health Organization. Comprehensive cervical cancer control. A guide to essential practice. 2nd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014. [3] Institute for Public Health. The Third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS III) 2006. Women's Health. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2008.