Breast self-examination and cervical cancer testing among Norwegian femalephysicians - A nation-wide comparative study

Practice of breast self-examination (BSE) and cervical cancer testing (Pap smear tests) was studied in a nation-wide Norwegian representative sample o f 284 female physicians aged 24-67. BSE was performed at least once a month in 30.6% of the cases, and 54.6% had a Pap smear test once every third yea r at least. BSE was never practised among 19.2% of the physicians, the main reasons being that they forgot it, or that they slated that they were in a low risk group or had no symptoms of disease. 16.2% had never had routine Pap smears, and these physicians claimed that they were in a low risk group or had no symptoms of disease, that they had a problem in finding a physic ian to attend, or that they forgot to take the test. A subgroup of 135 phys icians aged 35-49 years was compared with 738 women with higher university education included from a nation-wide representative sample of the general population of Norway. A significantly higher percentage of physicians pract ised BSE monthly or more often compared with other university educated wome n. However, a significantly lower percentage of the physicians had Pap smea r tests every third year or more frequently. The positive association betwe en being a physician and practising BSE, and the negative association betwe en being a physician and having Pap smear tests, remained after controlling for potential confounders in multivariate analyses. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.