Knowledge of pregnant women on the tests to early detect cervix uteri and breast cancer in a poor community

Abstract

The gynecological cancer presents high rate of morbidity and mortality in Brazil, representing a serious public health problem, in spite of the educational campaigns and the increasing role of women in society, in seeking their rights of citizenship. The importance of this subject fosters the interest to conduct this descriptive, exploratory and quantitative study with the objective to identify how knowledgeable pregnant women are about the tests to early detect cervix uteri and breast cancer. Data were obtained by means of an applied interview to 49 pregnant women who took part in health-promotion groups, in a poor community of the city of São Paulo. The results revealed that 75% of the women know the Pap test, and they associate it to detect uterine problems; that 63.3% had taken this test within a year. In 29% of the cases abnormalities were detected, and 27% had no knowledge of the results. In relation to self-breast examination, 53% did not know what it was, and 59% said not to know how to do it. It was concluded that there is a need to disseminate information and implement communication methods to provide knowledge to women and to stimulate them to change their behavior towards health.