• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.4977-4982
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• 2013

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate perceived inhibiting and facilitating factors concerning cervical cancer early diagnosis behavior in Turkish women over the age of 40. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out by qualitative focus group interview with 35 participating women, in the period between April-June 2010. A semi-structured interview questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model and the Health Promotion Model was used. Content analysis was applied to the study data. Results: Barriers such as lack of knowledge of women as regards to the cervical cancer and early detection, lack of sensitivity-negligence, forgetting, fear, inadequacy of health insurance and transportation, financial problems, inability to get an appointment, lack of female doctors, embarassment, fatalist approach were frequently addressed. As for facilitating factors, these included provision of information, health professionals showing interest and tolerance, free services, provision of transportation means and reminding telephone calls. Conclusions: Focus group interviews were found to be effective in determining inhibiting and facilitating factors concerning cervical cancer early diagnosis behavior. In line with the results of the study, preparation of structured national and regional education programs and their addition to curriculum programs may be effective in realizing and maintaining positive early detection behavior.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5053-5058
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• 2015

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the commonest cancers among women all over the world. The association of cervical cancer with human papilloma virus (HPV) is well established. Knowledge about the causal relationship between HPV and cervical cancer is important to make appropriate, evidence-based health care choices. In this context we conducted a community based study among women about the knowledge, attitude and practice about HPV infections and their health effects. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional interview based house to house survey was conducted with a validated data collection tool covering sociodemographic factors, knowledge, attitude and practice about HPV and its health effects, among 1020 women from a rural village, Perdoor, in Udupi district, Karnataka, India in 2013-14. Results: The mean age of participants was 38.9 years (SD=12.6). Study participants showed a high literacy rate (85.7%). Only 2.4% of sexually exposed women had undergone Pap smear testing. Partners of 4.4%women had undergone circumcision and they belonged to the Muslim community. Male condom usage was reported by 26 women (2.6%). However, none of the participants had heard of HPV and its health effects. Conclusions: This community based study found complete ignorance about HPV among rural South Indian women in spite of a high literacy level.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.3983-3988
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• 2016

Background: Cervical cancer though preventable is still the leading cause of cancer death among women secondary to breast cancer. Persistent infection with HPV has been causally linked to the disease. A school based HPV vaccination program was introduced in late 2010 in Malaysia and nurse support is essential for its success. Objectives: To determine nurses knowledge and attitudes about HPV infection and its vaccines, and factors associated with their knowledge. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses working at primary health clinics in Kelantan from mid-June till the end of July 2014. Its involved 330 nurses selected through multistage random sampling. A validated self-administered questionnaire consisting of 11 items for the knowledge domain and eight items for the attitude domain was used. Results: The response rate of the study was 93.7%. The mean knowledge and mean attitude (SD) scores were 5.37 (1.76) and 29.8 (3.51) respectively. Only 24% knew that HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and 67% correctly answered that Gardasil vaccine can protect against four types of HPV. Nearly 60% of participants wrongly answered that HPV vaccines cannot be offered to sexually active women. Likewise, 70.9% participants were not aware that HPV vaccine may be appropriate for females aged 9 through 26 years. Though 90% of participants believed that the vaccine is safe, nearly half of them were unsure about efficacy. From multiple linear regression analysis, among the factors tested only participant's level of education showed a statistically significant association with the HPV knowledge score (p <0.001). Conclusions: This study indicates nurses have favorable attitudes towards HPV vaccination; however they have significant knowledge deficit and major misunderstanding in critical knowledge items. Among the factors tested, nursing qualification is the only factor that is significantly associated with the nurses knowledge score.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.141-149
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• 2004

Purpose: To identify the status of regular cervical cancer screening practices among middle-aged women, the associations between regular practice and research factors, and the predictive model and factors effecting such behavior was studied. Method: Two hundred women, aged 40 to 60, were selected by convenience in one urban area of Seoul. They were asked about their regular attendance for screening, knowledge of cancer and screening, health belief, health self-determination index and certain personal factors. Result: Approximately 54.5% of the women had periodic screening tests every 6 months to 2 years. Their knowledge of cervical cancer and health belief were at the medium level of each scale, but their health self-determination scores (HSDI) were low. Some influencing factors, and their cancer odds ratio were identified through univariate regression analysis. These variables were included in a predictive model, and this model proved to have enough fit and classification power (83.5%). In this model, the financial state, self-belief and self-determination scores were found to be significant. Conclusion: Middle-age women's intrinsic motivation for healthy behavior was found to be low in those who felt to be in a poor financial state, had higher perceived barriers, lower perceived benefits and a lower prevalence of undergoing regular screening test.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2931-2934
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• 2012

Background: The epidemiological situation regarding cervical carcinoma in Serbia is rather unfavorable and one of contributing factors is the insufficient interest of women concerning the risk factors responsible for occurrence of this disease. The aim of this study was to determine the sources of relevant information for women Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was used for questioning of patients, students and women undergoing systematic examinations. There were 600 women in total in 2006, 2009 and 2010, and the data were statistically processed by the ${\chi}^2$ test with Yates correction and the Fisher test. Results: When observed for certain groups of tested women, and summed up for all three periods, there was a statistically significant difference for the answer "without any knowledge" (p=0.0001). When observed for certain years and summed up for all three tested groups, there was a statistically significant difference in answers regarding the source of information, the "doctor" (p=0.0011), "media" (p=0.0349) and "encyclopedia-internet" (p=0.0136). Conclusion: The media are a dominant source of information for women on risk factors for cervical cancer. The significance of the Internet increased during the three observed periods, while the students considered themselves least informed of all concerning risk factors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7263-7266
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• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer which is one of the most preventable cancers is an important public health problem worldwide, and especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine knowledge and attitudes about the HPV vaccination of mothers with 0- to 18-year old children. Materials and Methods: Written approval was taken from the local authorities. The study subjects consisted of 799 mothers who agreed to participate. The data were collected via a "Personal Information Form" which included 30 questions that were prepared by the researchers themselves in line with the literature. The data were collected by face to face interviews with the mothers. Analyses were performed using commercial software. Results: The mean age of the mothers who participated in the study was $32.0{\pm}6.52$, and 88.1% reported no information about HPV, and 83.5% no information about HPV vaccination. Only 0.7% of the mothers had daughters who had HPV vaccination, and 44.3% of the mothers who had sons were found out to be indecisive about having HPV vaccination. There was a significant corelation between the educational status of the mothers and their knowledge about HPV vaccination (p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation in terms of economic conditions (p>0.05). Conclusions: This study suggested that mothers had very little information on HPV and HPV vaccination. Knowledge of the disease and its vaccination is an essential factor for the success of the vaccination program. It is of great importance that mothers are trained in this subject by health professionals.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4719-4724
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• 2012

This study aimed to analyse the participation of women of reproductive age in a cancer screening program, and survey reasons for non-screening in a region from Mexico with high cervical cancer mortality. A total of 281 obstetric patients from a previous HPV study in a social security hospital during 2008-2009 were included. Reasons for not participating in the screening were directly asked. HPV positive patients were invited to participate in an informative workshop, and they filled in a knowledge questionnaire. The women ranged in age from 14-47 years; 123 (43.8%) had never participated in screening, of which 97 (78.9%) had their first sexual intercourse 2 to 10 years ago, resulting in 25% HPV positive. Screening history was strongly associated with 2 or more gestations (OR=10.07, p=0.00) and older age (OR=6.69 p=0.00). When 197 women were contacted and interviewed, reasons referred for non-screening were ignorance, lack of interest or time, recent sexual onset, shame and fear. More than 50% of the workshop participants showed knowledge of HPV, while 38.9% and 25% knew about Pap smear and cervical cancer. A high percentage of women of reproductive age have never had a Pap smear. Promoting the screening program in medical facilities seems to be important in this population. New approaches to inform vulnerable individuals on the benefits of screening need to be implemented, especially for young women.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2018

This study is to investigate the HPV vaccination intention among male university students by cervical cancer knowledge and health belief. A sample of 159 male non-health related majoring students was asked to respond to a self-administrated questionnaire about the intention to inject HPV vaccine, knowledges of cervical cancer, and the level of health belief. T-test, ANOVA, pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple group analysis were utilized. Vaccination intention had a positive relation with knowledge of cervical cancer(${\beta}=.200$, p=.01). Health belief was also related with the vaccination intention. There was a significant relation between the vaccination intention and perceived seriousness (${\beta}=.362$, p=.01). This study suggested that the health and HPV convergent education at least as an extracurricular course should be offer to male university students for them to develop an intention to HPV vaccination.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2003

Cancers of the cervical esophagus occur uncommonly, but treatment is remaining a challenging problem and surgery demands special knowledge of abdominal, thoracic, and neck surgery. The primary risk factor is chronic heartburn, leading to a sequence of esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, reflux esophagitis and etc. Among the various treatment modalities, Surgery is still a mainstay of treatment. The main aim of surgery is not only oncologically adequate resection but also preservation or restoration of physiologic functions, such as deglutition and phonation. Surgical treatment of cervical esophageal cancer is influenced by special problems arising from tumor factors, patient factors and surgeon factors. Complete clearance of loco-regional disease and prevention of postoperative complications are of particular importance for the improvement of long-term survival in patients with these cancers. So the cervical and thoracic extension of these tumors usually required an extensive lymphadenectomy with primary resection. Radical resection of the primary site almostly include sacrifice of the larynx, but the voice could be rehabilitated with various methods, such as tracheoesophageal prosthesis or tracheoesophageal shunts, etc. Restoration of the esophageal conduit can be performed using gastric or colon interposition, radial forearm free flap or jejunum free flap, etc. Recently, the advances of radiation therapy and chemotherapy will enable less extended resections with greater rates of laryngeal preservation. At initial presentation, up to 50％ to 70％ of patients will have advanced locoregional or distant disease with virtually no chance for cure. Patients with advanced but potentially resectable esophageal cancer are generally treated by surgery with some form of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or both, with 5-year survivals in the 20％ to 30％ range. So the significant adverse factors affecting survival should be taken into account to select the candidates for surgery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2689-2694
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• 2016

Background: Most studies of human papilloma virus (HPV) are aimed at the natural history of the infection and its relation to cancer; however, there are few studies to assess knowledge of the general population. Our aim was analyze the degree of knowledge of Argentinians about HPV infection and its prevention. Materials and Methods: We conducted a voluntary, anonymous and non-binding survey with 27 multiple-choice items, in twelve private and public establishments, selected to include a broad population in terms of education, age and gender. The survey consisted of three sections: individual characteristics of the volunteer, HPV infection basic knowledge, its prevention and the virus relationship with other cancers. Results: One thousand two hundred ninety seven volunteers aged 18 to 80 participated. The total number of correct answers was 45.1%. The correct answers for relationship HPV and cervical cancer was 62.1%. Almost 55% did not know about types of HPV that the vaccines for protection. Statistical analysis showed that women, single people, workers, the better educated, those who have had a STDs or HPV and receiving information through medical or educational establishments had greater knowledge of the topic. Only 0.2% of participants answered all questions correctly. Conclusions: Knowledge plays an important role in health care and the deficiency found in our population could influence the success of the measures taken in the fight against cervical cancer. In this regard, we believe it would be appropriate, not only to emphasize early diagnosis and vaccine implementation, but also incorporate new communication strategies, facilitating reception of accurate and precise information by all strata of society.