A cervical cancer curriculum for Hispanic adolescents in rural high schools: a pilot study

Knowledge and views of secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur on cervical cancer and its prevention

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in women worldwide. Persistent infection with a human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause for cervical cancer. Vaccination and Pap smear screening are the best methods for prevention of the disease. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the knowledge and views of upper secondary school female students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, toward prevention of cervical cancer. This study was conducted from April 2009 to September 2009 in 8 schools in Kuala Lumpur area using pre-tested and validated questionnaires. Results indicated that the respondents had low knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention although the majority of students (80.4%) had heard about the disease. The level of knowledge of cervical cancr and its prevention was significantly higher among students from the science stream (p<0.001) compared to students from the art stream. Most students (69.3%) agreed to take the vaccination if the service was available in schools. A high percentage of students (82.2%) agreed that the vaccination should be compulsory to the students. In conclusion, most students had low knowledge of cervical cancer and its prevention but they had positive attitude toward vaccination and agreed that vaccination should be compulsory. Therefore, suitable educational programmes should be developed to improve the knowledge of secondary school students on the prevention of cervical cancer.

Preventing cervical cancer in the Latina population

Cervical cancer causes great morbidity and mortality worldwide and in the United States. Infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV), the etiological agent of almost all cervical cancer cases, is common among sexually active women in the United States. Over the past 5 decades, the implementation of Papanicolaou screening programs in the United States has led to a significant decrease in cervical cancer cases. However, notable disparities in the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer and cervical screening rates among Hispanics in the United States remain. If current disparities persist without intervention, the Latina population in the United States may remain at a higher risk of developing and dying from cervical cancer. We discuss disparities in cervical cancer screening, incidence, and mortality among the Latina population, as well as the barriers that may propagate these disparities. We also address how these barriers can be overcome through the coordination of outreach programs and widespread prophylactic HPV vaccination to reduce cervical cancer disparities in Latinas.

Intimate partner violence in Latina and non-Latina women

BACKGROUND

No single study has delineated the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) over multiple time periods for Latina versus non-Latina women and compared the health of abused Latina women to the health of abused non-Latina women using multiple health indicators. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of IPV over multiple time periods and the association between lifetime IPV exposure and current health in Latina and non-Latina women.

METHODS

A total of 3429 women (mean age=47 years) were randomly sampled from a large U.S. healthcare system; 139 (4%) were Latina. During a telephone survey, past-5-year and past-year IPV prevalence was assessed using five questions on physical and psychological abuse from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and ten questions from the Women's Experience with Battering Scale; lifetime IPV prevalence was assessed using the BRFSS questions. Current physical, social, and mental health was assessed using well-validated questionnaires.

RESULTS

Prevalence of IPV for Latina versus non-Latina women was, respectively: 44.6% vs 44% lifetime; 20.1% vs 14.5% for the past 5 years; and 11.5% vs 7.8% for the past year. In models adjusted for age and income, women with a lifetime IPV history had significantly worse health compared to non-abused women across many health indicators; for example, Latina women with a lifetime IPV history had Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) subscale scores that were 5.62 (mental health) to 7.77 (vitality) points lower than those for non-abused Latina women; depression prevalence more than two times higher; and more physical symptoms. Adverse IPV-related health was significantly worse for Latina than non-Latina women for overall mental health functioning (p<0.02), vitality (p<0.01), and emotional functioning (p<0.01) according to SF-36.

CONCLUSIONS

This exploratory study showed that IPV is common in Latina and non-Latina women, and adverse IPV-related mental health was pronounced in Latina women.