Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (12)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Marteau, T. M
Right arrow Articles by Collins, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marteau, T. M
Right arrow Articles by Collins, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Family Practice Vol. 19, No. 1, 18-22
© Oxford University Press 2002

Original Paper

Perceptions of risk of cervical cancer and attitudes towards cervical screening: a comparison of smokers and non-smokers

Theresa M Marteau, Matthew Hankinsa and Bernadette Collins

Psychology and Genetics Research Group and
a Psychology Unit, Guy's King's and St Thomas's School of Medicine, Thomas Guy House, Guy's Campus, London SE1 9RT, UK.

Objectives. The aim of this study was to compare smokers' and non-smokers' perceptions of risks of cervical cancer and attitudes towards cervical screening.

Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 722 women aged between 20 and 64 years.

Results. While smokers perceived their relative risk of heart disease to be greater than that of non-smokers, they did not perceive their risks of cervical cancer to be greater. Smokers held less positive attitudes towards cervical screening than did non-smokers. Smokers and non-smokers did not differ in their intentions to attend for cervical screening: for both groups, intentions were very high. Using logistic regression analysis, both attitudes towards cervical screening [odds ratio (OR) 1.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7–2.2] and perceived relative risk of developing cervical cancer (OR 1.5; 95% CI 1.0–2.1) were predictive of intentions to attend for screening, as well as educational level (OR 3.8; 95% CI 1.2–11.3) and marital status (OR 0.6; 95% CI 0.3–0.9).

Conclusions. Smokers seem unaware of their increased risks of cervical cancer and hence the increased value for them of regular smears. Evaluations are needed to determine the effectiveness of interventions delivered in the context of cervical screening aimed at (i) raising smokers' awareness of their increased risk of cervical cancer and (ii) stopping smoking.

Keywords. Cervical cancer, cervical screening, perceived risk, smoking.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev.Home page
W. Rakowski, H. Meissner, S. W. Vernon, N. Breen, B. Rimer, and M. A. Clark
Correlates of Repeat and Recent Mammography for Women Ages 45 to 75 in the 2002 to 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2003).
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., November 1, 2006; 15(11): 2093 - 2101.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Fam PractHome page
F. Iles
Perceptions of risk of cervical cancer and attitudes towards cervical screening
Fam. Pract., February 1, 2003; 20(1): 93 - 94.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.