# Preventive insights and practices of female health professionals regarding cervical cell dysplasia: a cross-sectional study in Egypt

## TL;DR

This study explores how well female health professionals in Egypt understand and practice cervical dysplasia prevention, finding gaps in screening practices despite some knowledge.

## Contribution

The study provides insights into the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of female health professionals in Egypt regarding cervical dysplasia prevention.

## Key findings

- Only 25% of female health professionals had good knowledge about cervical dysplasia.
- Most had not been vaccinated against HPV or undergone a Pap smear.
- Lack of awareness about screening facilities and beliefs about not needing screening were major barriers.

## Abstract

Cervical dysplasia is preventable through screening methods and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Cervical cancer (CC) mortality is disproportionately higher in low-and-middle-income nations, which lack a population-based screening program. Health professionals should promptly counsel and educate females about cervical dysplasia prevention.

this work aimed to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of female health professionals about cervical cell dysplasia. As well as addressing the potential barriers against routine cytological screening tests.

A cross-sectional multicentric study at two tertiary hospitals; Tanta and Menoufia University Hospitals, recruited 1300 women (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists) via a multistage stratified random sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of 4 sections was used to collect the relevant data.

Across all professions, 25% and 49.2% respectively had good knowledge levels and positive attitudes regarding cervical dysplasia. The majority had not been vaccinated against HPV nor undergone a Pap smear. Older age, urban residence, and positive family history were significant predictors of negative attitudes towards screening, p < 0.0001, beta 95%(CI) = -0.8 ( -0.1,-0.05), -0.9 (-1.2,-0.6), -0.2 (-0.8,0.4)) respectively. The most encountered barriers opposing screening included lack of awareness about health facilities providing CC screening and the belief that there is no need so far, no complaints (72.6%,73%).

Female health professionals possessed acceptable knowledge and relatively positive attitudes regarding CC prevention, while their practices were discouraging. Believing that CC is a curse was the main culprit of refraining screening. It is pivotal to enhance accessibility to cervical screening services in various healthcare settings and boost the knowledge of health practitioners as they are key promoters of public health.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-24004-4.