A Mixed Method Research to Identify Perceived Reasons and Solutions for Low Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening in Urban Families of Bhopal Region

Low uptake of cervical cancer screening is not a matter of poor coverage of health care facilities only. We wish to identify the perceived reasons behind low uptake of screening in Bhopal region and also possible solutions for an urban setting. In a mixed research, through a series of focused group discussions, we wished to do thematic interpretation of the perceptions towards cervical cancer screening by deductive content analysis of FGD and also to obtain a free list of perceived causes and solutions with Smith's saliency score and perform cluster analysis by pile sorting. We found that the perceived reasons could be grouped into three themes which were (1) information gap leading to fear of unknown, (2) casual attitude, and (3) resource constrains and affordability issues. For the perceived solutions there were 11 codes which could be grouped into two groups; these were increasing awareness and vaccination. Free list of perceived reasons and solutions has also been generated. No single solution can be suggested but a comprehensive approach with awareness campaigns, personalized encouragements, affordable and friendly health care with subsidized vaccination, and screening facilities are expected to increase awareness and acceptability and thus reduce burden of disease in the long run.