The health beliefs of mothers about preventing cervical cancer and their intention to recommend the Pap test to their daughters: a cross-sectional survey.
BACKGROUND
Mothers have a primary role in the prevention of cervical cancer in Korea. This study aimed to determine the awareness and health beliefs of mothers about preventing cervical cancer in their daughters, their intention to recommend the Pap test to their daughters, and the factors influencing this intention.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey design was employed, and the study enrolled mothers (n = 1,581) of pubescent girls aged 13 to 18 years who were living nationwide in Korea. The six health-beliefs variables related to preventing cervical cancer in their daughters, awareness of the importance of cervical cancer prevention methods, and the intention to recommend the Pap test to daughters were investigated. The impacts of these health beliefs of the mothers and the sociodemographic factors influencing their intention to recommend the Pap test to their daughters were assessed using multiple logistic regression analysis.


RESULTS
Almost one-quarter (23.7 %) of the mothers had talked about the Pap test, 69.2 % were intending to recommend the Pap test to their daughters, and 38.5 % considered that the Pap test could be necessary if their daughters became sexually active. The significant health beliefs influencing the intention to recommend the Pap test were the perceived barriers [odds ratio (OR) = 1.47, 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) = 1.03-2.11] and benefits (OR = 2.25, 95 % CI = 1.55-3.25). The significant sociodemographic factors of mothers were their education (OR = 1.52, 95 % CI = 1.08-2.13), their experience of talking about the Pap test with their daughters (OR = 2.11, 95 % CI = 1.23-3.64), their regularity of undergoing the Pap test themselves (OR = 1.98, 95 % CI = 1.30-3.03), and their age when they first underwent the Pap test (OR = 1.60, 95 % CI = 1.43-0.82).


CONCLUSIONS
The mothers perceived HPV vaccination as the most important of the five methods for preventing cervical cancer in their daughters. Mothers perceived the importance of their daughters undergoing the Pap test regardless of the presence of HPV vaccination, and most of the mothers had an intention of recommending the Pap test to their daughters. Strategies for increasing the intention of mothers to recommend the Pap test to their adolescent daughters could be promoted by increasing their perceptions of the benefits while reducing their perceptions of barriers toward their daughters undergoing the Pap test, and by empowering active communication about the Pap test between mothers and daughters.
['Kim|Hae Won|HW|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006801:Humans D008875:Middle Aged D009035:Mothers D009679:Nuclear Family D065006:Papanicolaou Test D030361:Papillomavirus Infections D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines D056910:Republic of Korea D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms D055815:Young Adult
Mothers Cervical cancer Pap test Korea Adolescents Human papillomavirus