Knowledge about Cervical Cancer Risk Factors and Pap Smear Testing Behavior among Female Primary Health Care

Cervical cancer is the ninth leading female cancer type, third leading gynecologic cancer following ovarian and endometrial cancers and thirteenth leading cause of cancer-related deaths, with an incidence of 4.2/100.000 based on 2006 data (Turkish Cervical Cancer and Cervical Cytology Research Group 2009; Eser et al., 2010). Most important cause of the cervical cancer is “Human Papilloma Virus” (HPV). Genotypes 16 and 18 of the virus most commonly account for the development of the cancer (Saslow et al., 2007). Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial for decreasing the mortality rate in the cervical cancer. Cervical cancer has a long premalignant period that provides the opportunity for screen and treat before it turns to be invasive cervical cancer. Nowadays, there are so many methods to detect premalignant lesion such as conventional Pap smear (Oranratanaphan et al., 2010). The conventional Pap smear is a convenient, cost-effective, simple test. Performing this test is considered as a health promotion behavior (Keshavarz et al., 2011). The Pap smear is the most effective cancer prevention