{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T14:22:21Z","timestamp":1780064541385,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]],"date-time":"2021-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1624492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The knowledge of Pap smear and uptake of preventive behaviors to prevent cervical cancer are the most important contributors to the advanced stage of the disease. Knowledge is one of the most leading factors to predict the health behaviors and a helpful factor in performing screening procedures. This study aimed to investigate Saudi Arabian women knowledge of Pap testing in relation to their intention to undergo the test.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>An online survey including demographic characteristics (3 questions), knowledge (13 questions), and intentions (3 questions) towards Pap smear was completed by 467 Saudi Arabian women. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 22, using descriptive statistics and correlation to measure the relationship between knowledge, demographic factors, and intention.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The study found that average level of knowledge was 1.3 which is between high and moderate knowledge, and the average score for the intention was 2.88, to indicate that the intentions to uptake Pap smear among the participants were above the average. The study revealed a significant correlation between demographic factors and intention (p&lt;0.01).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Findings from the current study can inform health care providers about Saudi Arabian women knowledge of Pap smear and the intention to uptake the test. Strategies to motivate women to undergo Pap screening should be introduced.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0253850","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]],"date-time":"2021-06-24T17:41:14Z","timestamp":1624556474000},"page":"e0253850","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Knowledge and intentions regarding the Pap smear test among Saudi Arabian women"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1866-7543","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nawal A.","family":"Alissa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0253850.ref001","volume-title":"Cervical Cancer","author":"World Health Organization (WHO)","year":"2018"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0253850.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21262","article-title":"Global cancer statistics, 2012","volume":"65","author":"LA Torre","year":"2015","journal-title":"CA Cancer J Clin"},{"key":"pone.0253850.ref003","unstructured":"HPV Information Centre. Saudi Arabia Human Papillomavirus and Related Cancer. 2018. Available from: https:\/\/hpvcentre.net\/statistics\/reports\/SAU_FS.pdf"},{"key":"pone.0253850.ref004","first-page":"2437","article-title":"Cancer incidence in Saudi Arabia: 2012 data from the Saudi Cancer Registry","author":"S Bazarbashi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Asian Pac J Cancer Prev"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0253850.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.5144\/0256-4947.2016.313","article-title":"Clinical practice guidelines on the screening and treatment of precancerous lesions for cervical cancer prevention in Saudi Arabia","volume":"36","author":"HM Al-Mandeel","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann Saudi Med"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0253850.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"880","DOI":"10.7326\/0003-4819-156-12-201206190-00424","article-title":"Screening for cervical cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force","volume":"156","author":"VA Moyer","year":"2012","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0253850.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1093\/carcin\/bgp263","article-title":"The global burden of cancer: Priorities for Prevention","volume":"31","author":"MJ Thun","year":"2010","journal-title":"Carcinogenesis"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0253850.ref008","first-page":"3379","article-title":"Limited understanding of pap smear testing among women, a barrier to cervical cancer screening in the United Arab Emirates","volume":"18","author":"FA Al-Hammadi","year":"2017","journal-title":"Asian Pac J Cancer Prev"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0253850.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-018-5023-7","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding cervical cancer and screening among women visiting primary health care centres in Bahrain","volume":"18","author":"G Jassim","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0253850.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"396","DOI":"10.4103\/1755-6783.208731","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude and practice of pap smear among Omani women","volume":"10","author":"NY Alwahaibi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann Trop Med Public Health"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0253850.ref011","first-page":"1223","article-title":"Knowledge of Saudi female university students regarding cervical cancer and acceptance of the human papilloma virus vaccine","volume":"35","author":"GK Al-Shaikh","year":"2014","journal-title":"Saudi Med J"},{"key":"pone.0253850.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1186\/1472-6874-14-100","article-title":"Awareness of pap testing and factors associated with intent to undergo pap testing by level of sexual experience in unmarried university students in Korea","volume":"14","author":"HW Kim","year":"2014","journal-title":"BMC Women\u2019s Health"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0253850.ref013","first-page":"177","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes and practice about pap smear among women reffering to a public hospital","volume":"6","author":"S Chamani","year":"2012","journal-title":"J Fam Reprod Health"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0253850.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"291","DOI":"10.1348\/135910707X187245","article-title":"Predicting the intention to quit smoking and quitting behavior: Extending the theory of planned behavior","volume":"13","author":"J. Rise","year":"2008","journal-title":"British Journal of Health Psychology"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0253850.ref015","first-page":"188","article-title":"Knowledge about cervical cancer and pap smear and the factors influencing the pap test screening among women","volume":"5","author":"H Ashtarian","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0253850.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"751","DOI":"10.4103\/2141-9248.141547","article-title":"A Study on knowledge and screening for cervical cancer among women in Mangalore city","volume":"4","author":"H Kumar","year":"2014","journal-title":"Ann Med Health Sci Res"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0253850","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]],"date-time":"2021-06-24T17:41:31Z","timestamp":1624556491000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0253850"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Hafiz T.A.","family":"Khan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0253850","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]]}}}