Application of the Perceptual Factors, Enabling and Reinforcing Model on Pap Smaear Screening in Iranian Northern Woman

Background and Purpose: Cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in the world. Cervical cancer is no symptoms and can be treated if diagnosed in the first stage of the disease. The aim of this study was to survey the affecting factors of the Pap smears test on perceptual factors, enabling and reinforcing (PEN-3) model constructs in women. Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample size was 416 married women with random sampling. The questionnaire had 50 questions based on PEN-3 model structures. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and logistic regression method in software SPSS 20. Results: The mean age of women was 32.70 ± 21.00 years. The knowledge of risk factors and screening methods for cervical cancer was 37.2. About 40% of women had a history of Pap smears. The most important of perception factors were effective, family history of the disease, encourage people to Pap smear, and fear of detecting of cervical cancer. The most important enabling factors were the presence of expert health personnel to provide training and Pap smear test (50.3%), lack of time and too busy to do Pap smear test (23.2%). The reinforcing factors were the media advice (41.3%), doctor’s advice (32.5%) and neglect and forgetfulness (36.2%). Conclusion: This study has shown the Pap smear screening behavior affected by personal factors, family, cultural and economic. Application of PEN-3 can effective in planning and designing intervention programs for cervical cancer screening.