Objetives:

To estimate the association between having knowledge about cervical cancer (CC) and having a Pap test (PAP) in Peruvian women over 30 years old.

Materials and Methods:

A secondary analysis of the Demographic and Family Health Survey of the years 2015 to 2017 was carried out. The level of knowledge was evaluated using the questions, do you think that cancer can be prevented?, Have you ever heard of CC?, Have you ever heard of human papillomavirus (HPV)? And do you think HPV can cause CC? The dependent variable was the realization of a PAP in the last two years. To estimate the association, generalized linear models of the raw and adjusted Poisson family were used. The measure of association was the adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) with its respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results:

Data from 21 563 women were analyzed. The prevalence of having performed a PAP in the last two years was 52.4%. It was found that, those who responded that cancer can be prevented (aPR = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.17), who had heard of CC (aPR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.14-1 , 40) or HPV (aPR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.13-1.28) or who responded that HPV could cause CC (aPR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11-1.33) had a higher prevalence of having performed a PAP in the last two years.

Conclusions:

Having knowledge about CC and HPV has been associated with having performed a PAP in the last two years.

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