Polish Journal of Public Health

Introduction. Cervical cancer prevention program may be efficient only when cytological screening covers most women from a target population. Achieving this goal requires involvement of other than healthcare workers professionals being properly prepared for participation in health education, such as pedagogics, sociologists and social workers. These professionals could serve as an additional non-medical component of health education chain and therefore improve the effectiveness of population-based prevention programs.

Aim. The aim of this study was to assess if pedagogy and sociology students have sufficient knowledge pertaining to cervical cancer prevention, enabling their future work as health educators to motivate women to participate in prevention programs.

Material and methods. This questionnaire survey included 284 female students of pedagogy and sociology from two university schools in Szczecin. Survey questions referred to their knowledge on epidemiology, pathogenesis, prognosis, symptoms and prevention of cervical cancer.

Results. This study revealed that half of the students had moderate knowledge on cervical cancer. A high level of knowledge was observed in one-third of the participants. 

Conclusion. Students of pedagogy and sociology, whose curricula included health sociology and health prevention courses, exhibited acceptable level of knowledge required to take a role as health educators in cervical cancer prevention. However, potential health educators should be educated on cervical cancer prevention in a more systematized manner.

uterine cervix cancer, prevention, screening, health education