Knowledge about cervical cancer in young Portuguese women: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Health literacy is crucial to adherence to medical interventions in therapeutics, prevention, and diagnosis. The basis for literacy is knowledge. To accomplish the goals for the elimination of cervical cancer, one of the most prevalent and preventable cancers, we must understand the determinants of non-adherence and address them specifically to ensure patients' active participation. Aim: To determine women's knowledge regarding the manifestations of cervical cancer and its prevention. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in an urban population from northern Portugal. Women aged 18 to 30 years were randomly assigned to answer the Cervical Cancer Awareness Measure questionnaire, including questions of knowledge about the causes and symptoms of cervical cancer, prospecting for individual and social-related determinants. Results: The total number of participants was 270, with a mean age of 24.7 years. Knowledge about symptoms scored 5.4 ± 2.6, with a maximum of 12 points, and knowledge about the causes scored 5.7 ± 1.9, with a maximum of 11 points. The correlation between both was 0.334. High education, high socio-economic status, self-perception of one's capacity to recognize symptoms, and knowledge about the HPV vaccine were associated with better knowledge. Discussion: Portuguese women present low knowledge about cervical cancer, potentially affecting their health through exposure to risk situations and non-adherence to routine screening.

[The Portuguese Guidelines and Patients Values]. / As Normas de Orientação Clínica em Portugal e os Valores dos Doentes.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical guidelines are support tools, aiming to improve quality of the clinical practice. Patient centered care allows best satisfaction rates, with greater health self-management, and potential gains in quality with fewer costs. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the integration of patients' values in Portuguese guidelines. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We reviewed the 18 guidelines about cardiovascular diseases published in Portugal from 2011 to 2013, searching for the integration of patients' ideas, fears, expectations and preferences. RESULTS: Eight guidelines were related to diagnosis approach and 10 with treatment. We found references to patients' values in 5 (28%) guidelines, all about treatment aspects. The incorporation of patients' expectations was the most present feature. Reference to financial costs was present in 78% of the guidelines. DISCUSSION: Clinical guidelines are health technology instruments available to practitioners in order to improve the quality of care provided to patients, who are the real users of these tools. As in other countries, there is a tendency to disregard the users' value systems in the conception of the guidelines, giving the privilege to a population logic, not always applicable to the individual, and to financial arithmetic with low support in cost-effectiveness assessments. In the Portuguese case, the way guidelines were proposed conditioned also some suspicion both in the professionals and in the users. CONCLUSION: Portuguese guidelines have low incorporation of references to patients' values. This is more evident when questions about diagnosis are addressed, placing patients in a secondary role in the clinical decision-making process with potential losses in quality of care and eventual increase in costs.

Introdução: As normas de orientação clínica são instrumentos de apoio à decisão que visam a melhoria da qualidade, promovendo as boas práticas clínicas. Os cuidados orientados para o utente permitem uma melhor satisfação e autogestão da saúde, com ganhos de qualidade e potencialmente menores custos.Objetivo: Avaliar o grau de integração dos valores dos doentes nas normas de orientação clínica publicadas em Portugal. Material e Métodos: Reviram-se as 18 normas de orientação clínica da área cardiovascular publicadas em Portugal entre 2011 e 2013, procurando avaliar a introdução das ideias, medos, expectativas e preferências dos doentes. Resultados: Oito normas de orientação clínica estavam relacionadas com processos de diagnóstico e 10 com aspetos de terapêutica. Em cinco normas de orientação clínica (28%) foram encontradas referências a valores dos doentes, todas na área da terapêutica, não existindo nenhuma nas normas de orientação clínica relacionadas com o diagnóstico. A incorporação das expectativas dos doentes foi o aspeto mais presente. Em 78% existiam referências à valorização dos custos financeiros. Discussão: As normas de orientação clínica constituem-se como uma tecnologia de saúde ao dispor dos profissionais com o objetivo de melhorar a prestação dos cuidados assistenciais aos cidadãos, utilizadores últimos destes instrumentos. Como noutros países, há uma tendência a não considerar os utentes e os seus sistemas de valores na estrutura das orientações, privilegiando-se uma lógica populacional nem sempre aplicável ao caso concreto, e uma aritmética financeira pouco suportada em avaliações de custoefetividade. No caso português, a forma como foram propostas foi também condicionadora de desconfiança tanto nos profissionais como nos utentes.Conclusão: As normas de orientação clínica em Portugal apresentam uma baixa taxa de incorporação dos valores dos utentes, de uma forma mais visível na definição do diagnóstico, o que os coloca numa posição secundária no processo de decisão clínica com potenciais perdas na qualidade.