Cancer Screening Behaviors Among Canadian Women Living With Physical Disabilities
Abstract
Cooper NS, Yoshida KK. Cancer screening behaviors among Canadian women living with physical disabilities.
Objective
To report the prevalence and factors associated with ever having had a Papanicolaou (Pap) test or pelvic examination among Canadian women with physical disabilities and the barriers to having the tests.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Setting
General community.
Participants
Convenience sample of 1095 women between the ages of 18 to 93 completed the survey. The most frequently reported health conditions were musculoskeletal (44%), neurologic (17%), and sensory (13%).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Outcomes included prevalence of ever having a Pap test or pelvic examination and odds ratios of having the tests.
Results
Prevalence of ever having a Pap test was 90% and 91% for a pelvic examination. The most common barriers to the screening tests were “not being sexually active,” “my doctor told me I do not need one,” and “the exam table is too high/narrow.”
Conclusions
Although the prevalence of ever having a Pap test or pelvic examination was at or above 90%, women with physical disabilities need further education on the necessity and benefits of having regular cancer screening behaviors, especially among those who may not be sexually active. Further research is also required into why these women are informed that they do not require cancer screening tests.
aDepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
bGraduate Department of Rehabilitation Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Reprint requests to Karen K. Yoshida, PhD, Dept of Physical Therapy and Graduate Department of Rehabilitation Science, University of Toronto, 500 University Ave, 8th Fl, Toronto, ON, M5G 1V7, Canada
Supported by the Social Science Humanities Research Council (project no. 816-97-0042).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
ABSTRACT