Cervical cancer screening among aboriginal women and the influence of nurse practitioners in providing screening / by Carienne V. Bowes-Kerber. --

Abstract

The primary objectives of the study were to explore Aboriginal women’s current cervical health practices and cervical cancer screening (CCS) utilization, to identify Aboriginal women’s knowledge and risk associated with cervical cancer, and to describe Aboriginal women’s level of satisfaction with primary health care nurse practitioner (NP) services delivered through an Aboriginal health access centre (AHAC). Phase 1 included data collection from a cohort (Ni = 109) of Aboriginal-identified women ages 19 to 69 through the use of a comprehensive questionnaire that identified their current health care utilization rates, cervical cancer risks, knowledge and CCS history; cultural practices, general health beliefs, and experiences; and level of satisfaction with NPs. Phase 2 consisted of a descriptive analysis (N2 = 341) of Aboriginal women ages 19 to 69 who had accessed NP services through an AHAC during the 12-month period from October 2003 to October 2004. Questionnaire data showed that 99% of the participants reported having CCS in the past, with 81% self-reporting CCS within the past 2 years. The research showed that this cohort of women currently meets the Ontario program objective to increase those women ever having been screened to 95% by 2010. More than 60% of the participants in phase 1 had three cervical cancer risk factors, with 68% of first pregnancies reported as occurring by age 20, and 62% self-identified as current smokers, of whom 93% reported regular smoking by age 19. NP services, available since 1999 through AHAC, provide on-reserve Well Women Clinics that have contributed to a marked decrease in status on-reserve Aboriginal women’s reports of last Pap test greater than 2 years ago.