Using the health belief model to examine and predict college women's cervical cancer screening beliefs and behavior

Abstract

The high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) among adolescent and young adult women and the causal association between certain types of HPV and cervical cancer make regular gynecological screening and Pap smear testing essential health practices for young women. In this study, we used the constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to examine the gynecological screening beliefs and behaviors of a sample of 400 college women. Although the constructs of the model were able to explain only 15% of the variance in screening behavior and 11% of screening intentions, the use of the HBM framework resulted in important information regarding the participants' beliefs.