. Munawara Burhan; . Nor Azlina A. Rahman; . Mainul Haque
Volume 11, Issue 8 , September 2021, , Pages 1-9
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second‑most common female cancer in Malaysia after breastcancer. This study intended to investigate the knowledge and attitude regarding cervical ...
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BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the second‑most common female cancer in Malaysia after breastcancer. This study intended to investigate the knowledge and attitude regarding cervical cancer andits prevention and its associated factors among young female adults in Kuantan, Malaysia, to gaugethe community’s understanding and idea about this issue.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in attractive places in Kuantan, Malaysia,such as shopping malls and Urban Transformation Centre, using a cross‑sectional study design andconvenience sampling method. Data on the respondents’ knowledge and attitude regarding cervicalcancer and its prevention were collected using a questionnaire. Kruskal–Wallis, Independent t‑,and Pearson correlation tests were used to investigate the study variables’ association using SPSSsoftware.RESULTS: From the total of 142 respondents, almost half of them aged between 20 and 24 years oldwith the majority were Malays (85.9%) and single (74.6%). The internet (78.1%) was identified as themain medium to gain information regarding cervical cancer. The results show that levels of education,races, and occupation types were statistically significantly associated with the respondents’ knowledgeand attitude scores in this study. Age was found to be associated with knowledge scores only, whilemarital status was only significantly associated with the attitude scores regarding cervical cancer andits prevention. Knowledge scores were also found to be positively associated with attitude scores.CONCLUSION: Several socio‑demographic factors were significantly associated with the knowledgeand attitude regarding cervical cancer and its prevention. In view of the positive association betweenknowledge and attitude scores, suitable health promotion activities can be designed and planned toincrease young female adults’ knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer and its prevention.