Conhecimento das mulheres profissionais do sexo sobre o câncer de colo do útero e o teste de papanicolau.

Abstract

Sexual practice as a professional activity still attributes the woman who performs it with great stigma and prejudice towards society, causing resistance to the search for health care. In view of this, in addition to the multiplicity of partners, they present an insufficient preventive practice, which ends up compromising their sexual and reproductive health, favoring the development of diseases, such as Cervical Cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge of women sex workers in relation to cervical cancer and the Pap test. This is an exploratory, descriptive field study, using a quantitative and qualitative approach based on the action research strategy. The study was carried out with 12 Sex Professional Women, in the places where they offer their services in the municipality of Cajazeiras-PB. For data collection, during the situational diagnosis, a questionnaire was applied to identify the weaknesses in the women's knowledge regarding cervical cancer and the Pap smear, afterwards the educational intervention was carried out in face of the situational diagnosis, using a second questionnaire to assess the knowledge acquired by women from the action taken. Content analysis with categorization by the method proposed by Laurence Bardin was used as a method, also using the software Interface de R pour les Analyzes Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires. The study respected the ethical precepts set forth in Resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council, being approved by the Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Campina Grande / Teacher Training Center under opinion No. 3.329.774. The participants' inadequate knowledge regarding the theme was observed, since they did not know how to define the neoplasia, in addition to ignoring the risk factors involved in the development of the given cancer. Although they report performing the Pap smear test, the vast majority did not use it as a method for screening for cervical cancer, but for diagnosing other diseases. Therefore, through the results it was possible to identify that the educational action managed to achieve the proposed objectives, since the participants reported an increase in knowledge about the theme, allowing the construction of new knowledge and their empowerment regarding health.