The survey was conducted by using a validated modified Arabic version of the CC Awareness Measure (Cervical CAM) [13 ]. The CAM questionnaire was developed by the Health Behavior Research Centre at University College London (UCL), in collaboration with the UK Department of Health Cancer Team and The Eve Appeal, with funding from The Eve Appeal (Cancer Research UK, 2008). The questionnaire was pretested among 20 Yemeni women to ensure the simplicity and clarity of the study tool.
CC awareness questionnaire (Cervical CAM) questionnaire is a semi-structured questionnaire containing both open-ended (unprompted) and closed (prompted) questions. It contained eight questions to determine women’s awareness of the warning signs/symptoms and risk factors of CC as an outcome variable. Awareness of cancer warning signs and risk factors was determined by using open-ended questions. These questions were asked to assess the respondents’ recall of as many signs/symptoms and risk factors as possible. Moreover, closed-ended questions were used to assess the participant’s ability to recognize 11 signs/symptoms and 11 risk factors. The 11 symptoms listed in the CAM questionnaire are vaginal bleeding between periods, pain during sex, persistent lower back pain, persistent vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding after menopause, heavy menstrual periods, persistent diarrhea, persistent pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding during or after sex, blood in the stool or urine and unexplained weight loss. The 11 risk factors are infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), smoking, long-term use of contraceptive pills, having a weakened immune system, infection with chlamydia, having a sexual partner who is not circumcised, starting to have sex at a young age, having many sexual partners, having many children, having a sexual partner with many previous partners, and not going for regular Pap smear.
CC awareness questionnaire (Cervical CAM) questionnaire is a semi-structured questionnaire containing both open-ended (unprompted) and closed (prompted) questions. It contained eight questions to determine women’s awareness of the warning signs/symptoms and risk factors of CC as an outcome variable. Awareness of cancer warning signs and risk factors was determined by using open-ended questions. These questions were asked to assess the respondents’ recall of as many signs/symptoms and risk factors as possible. Moreover, closed-ended questions were used to assess the participant’s ability to recognize 11 signs/symptoms and 11 risk factors. The 11 symptoms listed in the CAM questionnaire are vaginal bleeding between periods, pain during sex, persistent lower back pain, persistent vaginal discharge, vaginal bleeding after menopause, heavy menstrual periods, persistent diarrhea, persistent pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding during or after sex, blood in the stool or urine and unexplained weight loss. The 11 risk factors are infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), smoking, long-term use of contraceptive pills, having a weakened immune system, infection with chlamydia, having a sexual partner who is not circumcised, starting to have sex at a young age, having many sexual partners, having many children, having a sexual partner with many previous partners, and not going for regular Pap smear.
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