[Knowledge and practice of doctors and midwives working in primary health care regarding screening for cervical and breast cancers]

Abstract

We assessed the knowledge and practices of breast and cervical cancer of 286 physicians and 126 midwives working in primary health care in Tunis who responded to an anonymous questionnaire. Questions were related to knowledge of the epidemiology and survival rates in the early stages of breast and cervical cancers, to training in this domain and to the degree of involvement in this screening. The knowledge of the two cancers was relatively modest among both physicians and midwives. The systematic practice of Pap smear was significantly more frequent among midwives than physicians.The same result was observed for systematic clinical breast examination. Lack of training about carrying out Pap smears and the large number of consultations were the main factors negatively associated with systematic Pap smear and clinical breast examination practice