RESUMO
Background: Cervical cancer occupies a significant place in the overall structure of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. We focused on the sexual health and use of cervical cancer screening among the female working population of reproductive age in Central Serbia. Methods: The research was conducted as a cross-sectional study, according to the methodology Stepwise approach to noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance WHO. The study population consisted of 1182 female working population aged 18-49 years, living on the territory of Central Serbia. The method of simple random sampling was utilized in the research itself. An anonymous standardized questionnaire was used as a research tool. Results: During the first sexual intercourse, 38.9% of the participants reported not having used any of the contraceptives, whereas 74.5% of the participants reported not having used them during their last sexual intercourse and 26.1% of the respondents reported not having had a single Pap smear in their lifetime. The multivariate logistic regression analysis singled out the following factors in women who reported not having done a Pap smear in their lifetime as the most significant ones: age - the youngest age group (OR = 3.30, CI = 1.80-6.04), unemployment (OR = 2.87, CI = 0.07-3.40), women who had never been married or had never been in a common-law marriage (OR = 2.55, CI = 1.40-4.66) and individuals with a medium education level (OR = 2.63, CI = 1.67-4.14). Conclusion: In Serbia, all the activities should be directed towards increasing the levels of awareness and knowledge on sexual health and cervical cancer screening services.
RESUMO
Objectives: The aim of this paper is to assess the association of demografic and socioeconomic determinants with utilization of dental services among Serbian adults. Materials and methods: The study is a part of the population health research of Serbia, conducted in the period from October to December 2019 by the Institute of Statistics of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr. Milan JovanovicBatut" and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia. The research was conducted as a descriptive, cross-sectional analytical study on a representative sample of the population of Serbia. For the purposes of this study, data on the adult population aged 20 years and older were used. Results: Men were approximately 1.8 times more likely than women to not utilize dental healthcare services (OR = 1.81). The likelihood of not utilizing dental healthcare protection rises with increasing age, reaching its peak within the 65-74 age range (OR = 0.441), after which it declines. Individuals who have experienced marital dissolution due to divorce or the death of a spouse exhibit a higher probability of not utilizing health protection (OR = 1.868). As the level of education and wealth diminishes, the probability of abstaining from health protection increases by 5.8 times among respondents with an elementary school education (OR = 5.852) and 1.7 times among the most economically disadvantaged respondents (OR = 1.745). Regarding inactivity, respondents who are not employed have a 2.6-fold higher likelihood of not utilizing oral health care compared to employed respondents (OR = 2.610). Conclusion: The results suggest that individual sociodemographic factors influence utilization of dental services by Serbian adults and confirmed the existence of socioeconomic disparities.
