Exploring the care received by HPV-positive married women at a colposcopy clinic in Tehran, Iran: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: Patient experience is the focus of individual care and services to meet patient needs, but this depends on how health care providers deliver their services. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of human papilloma virus (HPV)-positive married women from the care they received from health professionals at a colposcopy clinic in Tehran, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three focus group discussions were conducted between September and December 2016 with 30 women who had recently been referred to the clinic for cervical screening or colposcopy. Samples were collected by a purposeful sampling method in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The focus group discussions were carefully recorded at the same time as data collection. After ensuring the data saturation, interviews were terminated and data were categorized. Data was analyzed by direct conventional content analysis using MAXQDA-10. RESULTS: Two themes and three sub-themes resulted from the data analysis, including emotional responses (anxiety and fear of women), and appropriate/inappropriate behavior of the healthcare providers. CONCLUSION: Healthcare providers, by identifying factors that affect patient's stress, could help reduce the negative outcomes such as patients’ emotional responses to HPV positive results.