Breast and Cervical Cancer Related Practices of Female Doctors and Nurses Working at a University Hospital in Turkey

Background: Breast and cervical cancers are among the most frequent and most fatal cancers in women.Life span of patients may be increased and quality of life improved through early diagnosis and treatment.This investigation was performed in order to determine knowledge and practices of female health personnelworking at a university hospital regarding breast and cervical cancers. Materials and
Methods: This descriptiveinvestigation was performed in Erciyes University Hospitals in 2014. A total of 524 female health personnel wereincluded in the study. Data were collected through a questionnaire of 36 questions prepared by the researchers.The Chi square test and logistic regression were used for statistical analyses.
Results: The mean age of the studygroup was 32.8±6.9 years, 18.3% being doctors and 81.7% nurses. Of the study group, 60.5% stated that theyperformed self breast-examination, 4.4% underwent HPV testing, 26.3% thought about taking an HPV test,34.7% of those who are 40 years and over had mammography regularly and 19.5% of those who were marriedhad a Pap smear conducted regularly. Most important causes of not performing the methods for early diagnosisof breast and cervical cancers are “forget and neglect”.
Conclusions: It was concluded that female doctors andnurses do not pay sufficient attention to screening programs for breast and cervical cancers. The importance ofearly diagnosis and treatment should be emphasized during the undergraduate education and in-service trainingprograms. Health condition of personnel and their utilization of preventive health care should be followed byoccupational physicians.