Medical-social risk factors of cervical cancer development among women of reproductive age

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the widespread diseases that have a negative impact on the reproductive health. However, medical-social risk factors which provoke this pathology aren't studied sufficiently yet. We have identified the most significant medical-social risk factors of cervical cancer's development and progression based on data analysis of a sociological study. Thus, it was found that cervical cancer can't be associated with predominantly late reproductive age of women in conditions of the Republic of Belarus: most of the patients with this pathology (more than 53%) were under the age of 35 years old. The group of patients suffered from cervical cancer was quite homogeneous in their social status, which was average and relatively stable in a large majority of them (more than 90%), despite employment in various sectors of the national economy. Social functioning of these patients wasn't significantly different from the main population of women in reproductive age. Thus, early sexual activity and random early sexual relations weren't characteristic for the majority of them: 86.1±4.46% (the control group – 87.3±5.51%, the comparison group – 78.2±3.96%) and 83.5±4.72% (the control group – 89.1±4.28%, the comparison group – 75.2±2.36%). Moreover, the married patients of the main group had the most ordered sexual behavior (p<0.01; tau=0.572) which determined the low prevalence of artificial abortions among them, including menstrual cycle regulation (less than 8%). However, the revealed different defects of health-saving behavior in the main group of patients (more than 70%), including an insufficient level of valeological knowledge, the presence of common harmful habits and low medical activity, indicate that there are significant reserves for improvement of the preventive activities of medical stuff in the field of primary medical care for the development of a healthy lifestyle among female population of reproductive age and providing clinical examination among this contingent of females in reproductive age with the purpose of cervical cancer prevention.