Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies
Objective. To document Grenadian women’s knowledge about cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, as well as their attitudes towards primary cervical cancer screening methods. Methods. In this qualitative study, we used focus groups in Grenada to gather information concerning women’...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:29bde48b5d2345259d74a79b8ca217e8 2023-05-15T15:11:39+02:00 Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies Calisha Hyacinth-Purcell Jeannine Sylvester-Gill Edwin Sperr Jane McPherson Amy Baldwin 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 https://doaj.org/article/29bde48b5d2345259d74a79b8ca217e8 EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/57052 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 doi:10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 https://doaj.org/article/29bde48b5d2345259d74a79b8ca217e8 Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 47, Iss 32, Pp 1-6 (2023) uterine cervical neoplasms papillomavirus infections health knowledge attitudes practice grenada women Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 2023-01-29T01:26:18Z Objective. To document Grenadian women’s knowledge about cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, as well as their attitudes towards primary cervical cancer screening methods. Methods. In this qualitative study, we used focus groups in Grenada to gather information concerning women’s knowledge about, attitudes towards and perceptions of screening for cervical cancer and general knowledge about HPV. Ten focus groups comprising 73 participants representing 5 of the 6 parishes in Grenada were conducted with women aged 19–59. Participants were asked about pelvic exams, Pap smears, HPV, reasons for seeking or avoiding cervical cancer screening and how different modalities of testing might affect their decision-making. Responses were then coded and organized into common themes. Results. While many respondents had heard of HPV, far fewer knew about its causative role in cervical cancer, how to prevent HPV infection or testing for the high-risk HPV types that cause almost all cases of cervical cancer. Many participants were aware that cervical cancer screening was beneficial, but numerous barriers to obtaining that screening were noted, including concerns about privacy and stigma, potential discomfort, and the cost and inconvenience involved. Conclusions. Our findings have implications for future cervical cancer screening efforts in Grenada. Central to these efforts should be a focus on educating Grenadians about the role of HPV infection in cervical cancer and the importance of early detection through screening. In addition, addressing issues of stigma and privacy are key to eliminating cervical cancer in Grenada. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública 47 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
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English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
uterine cervical neoplasms papillomavirus infections health knowledge attitudes practice grenada women Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
uterine cervical neoplasms papillomavirus infections health knowledge attitudes practice grenada women Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Calisha Hyacinth-Purcell Jeannine Sylvester-Gill Edwin Sperr Jane McPherson Amy Baldwin Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
topic_facet |
uterine cervical neoplasms papillomavirus infections health knowledge attitudes practice grenada women Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Objective. To document Grenadian women’s knowledge about cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, as well as their attitudes towards primary cervical cancer screening methods. Methods. In this qualitative study, we used focus groups in Grenada to gather information concerning women’s knowledge about, attitudes towards and perceptions of screening for cervical cancer and general knowledge about HPV. Ten focus groups comprising 73 participants representing 5 of the 6 parishes in Grenada were conducted with women aged 19–59. Participants were asked about pelvic exams, Pap smears, HPV, reasons for seeking or avoiding cervical cancer screening and how different modalities of testing might affect their decision-making. Responses were then coded and organized into common themes. Results. While many respondents had heard of HPV, far fewer knew about its causative role in cervical cancer, how to prevent HPV infection or testing for the high-risk HPV types that cause almost all cases of cervical cancer. Many participants were aware that cervical cancer screening was beneficial, but numerous barriers to obtaining that screening were noted, including concerns about privacy and stigma, potential discomfort, and the cost and inconvenience involved. Conclusions. Our findings have implications for future cervical cancer screening efforts in Grenada. Central to these efforts should be a focus on educating Grenadians about the role of HPV infection in cervical cancer and the importance of early detection through screening. In addition, addressing issues of stigma and privacy are key to eliminating cervical cancer in Grenada. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Calisha Hyacinth-Purcell Jeannine Sylvester-Gill Edwin Sperr Jane McPherson Amy Baldwin |
author_facet |
Calisha Hyacinth-Purcell Jeannine Sylvester-Gill Edwin Sperr Jane McPherson Amy Baldwin |
author_sort |
Calisha Hyacinth-Purcell |
title |
Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
title_short |
Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
title_full |
Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
title_fullStr |
Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in Grenada, West Indies |
title_sort |
using focus groups to plan culturally acceptable primary cervical cancer screening in grenada, west indies |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 https://doaj.org/article/29bde48b5d2345259d74a79b8ca217e8 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 47, Iss 32, Pp 1-6 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/57052 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 doi:10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 https://doaj.org/article/29bde48b5d2345259d74a79b8ca217e8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2023.32 |
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Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública |
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47 |
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