Investigation of women’s access to cervical cancer screening during the
Covid-19 pandemic: The case of Turkiye
Abstract
Objectives: Covid-19, which affected countries all over the
world have disrupted health services and cancer screenings worldwide.
The study aimed to determine women’s access to cervical cancer screening
during the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkiye. Methods: The study was
planned as a descriptive cross-sectional. This study was composed of
women who have been sexually active. This study was completed with 443
people. The data were collected between 19 March and 27 April 2021 using
the “Data Collection Form” and the “Attitudes Towards Prevention of
Cervical Cancer Scale”. Results: More than half of the women
stated that Covid-19 and pandemic restrictions did not affect their
pap-smear. However, the Attitudes Towards Prevention of Cervical Cancer
Scale Cognitive and Affective mean scores of the women who stated that
the pandemic restrictions did not affect her getting pap-smear were
lower than the women who stated that it did. This situation shows that
the attitudes of women who stated that pandemic restrictions do not
affect their pap smears have low attitudes towards protection from
cervical cancer. Conclusions: It has been found that the
Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions in accessing the health services
related to the pandemic have an impact on the attitudes towards
protection from cervical cancer, such as having a pap smear.
Relevance to clinical practice: Considering the unprecedented
effects of the pandemic around the world, in order to avoid its negative
effects on cancer screenings, health professionals working in public
health services should not delay cervical cancer screening tests.