Arunrat Tangmunkongvorakul

Factors Associated with Suboptimal Screening for Cervical Cancer among Ethnic Women in Thailand-Myanmar Border Area

Suboptimal screening for cervical cancer is found in remote areas. This study aims to evaluate the suboptimal screening prevalence and determine the factors associated with suboptimal cervical cancer screening among  ethnic women in the Thailand-Myanmar border area. This is a cross-sectional study conducted from July to December 2023. The eligible criteria were ethnic women aged 30-60 in Pai district, Mae Hong Son province in northern Thailand. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics, accessibility to health care service, knowledge, attitude and perceptions about Human Papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer and screening, and support for cervical cancer screening. The factors associated with suboptimal screening were determined using binary logistic regression. Among 354 ethnic women, one-fourth had suboptimal screening for cervical cancer. The positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening and the perceived risk of cervical cancer were high. Most of the participants had a medium level of knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer. Factors associated with suboptimal screening were younger age (adjusted Odds Ratios(aOR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06-2.07), being Hmong ethnic group (aOR = 2.63, 95%CI: 1.30-5.34) compared to Karen ethnic group, and lack of information support from health care personnel (aOR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.08-3.29) . Positive attitude toward the screening was associated with less suboptimal screening (aOR=0.56, 95%CI: 0.32-0.96). Information support from local health personnel plays an important role in health promotion and health literacy for cervical cancer screening in ethnic women as information and support to accommodate the languages and cultural can enhance engagement and trust.

Knowledge and Behaviors toward Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer in the Women of Reproductive Age in Thailand-Myanmar Border Areas

Infectious disease is an important health problem in border areas as there is a possibility that the migrants may carry the disease into the area. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and behaviors toward human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer in the women of reproductive age in the Thailand-Myanmar border area. A survey study in a population of 418 women of reproductive age in Mae Hong Son Province in the Thailand-Myanmar border area. Knowledge and risk behaviors of HPV and cervical cancer were described using descriptive statistics. Fifty percent of the participants had sexual debut at age less than 20 years, 27% had more than one lifetime sexual partner and only 3% had sex outside a monogamous relationship during the past 12 months. In term of knowledge, 62.5% knew about HPV. The proportion of correct answers about HPV and cervical cancer questions ranged from 14-95% and 52-94%, respectively. Among the cervical cancer screening target, 69.4% accessed the screening. The factors associated with better knowledge about HPV and cervical cancer were education level higher than high school and sexual debut. The women of reproductive age in the Thailand-Myanmar border areas showed relatively low sexually risk behaviors for HPV infection. More than one-third of the participants did not know about HPV. The percentage of correct answer to questions about cervical cancer were low.  We encourage the Thai Ministry of Public Health to increase health promotion and health literacy on prevention of HPV and cervical cancer in the women of pre- and reproductive age in the Thailand-Myanmar border area.