A Study on Regular Cervical Cancer Screening Behavior among Middle-aged Women

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.