Pap smear screening detects cervical cancer in its earliest stages, yet thousands of women in the United States die annually from this disease. Social networking websites commonly provide information about recommended health screenings. In this quantitative study, the Health Belief Model provided the theoretical framework to determine if the use of social networking websites affected nurses' decisions to receive Pap smear screening. A convenience sample of nurses was used, with the rationale that they were knowledgeable of and receptive to participating in a relevant health study. A total of 2,336 registered nurses practicing in Durham, North Carolina were invited to participate in the study. Over a period of 4 weeks, 107 participants responded to questions from the Health Belief Questionnaire and Pew Internet and American Life survey through an electronic questionnaire. Chi-square analysis determined the association between the receipt of Pap smear screening and the use of a social networking website use. Logistic regression further analyzed this association with age as a covariate. Nearly all participants reported having a Pap smear screening within the last 12 months. However, the lack of significant results showed that social networking website use was not a factor for higher screening rates. Despite the non-significant findings, the participants nevertheless reported a high use of social networking websites. These findings indicate that such platforms can be used to educate women on the importance of Pap smear screening. The study's implications for positive social change are to use such sites to more effectively, to promote and educate on the importance of Pap smear screening.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:waldenu.edu/oai:scholarworks.waldenu.edu:dissertations-3827 |
| Date | 01 January 2016 |
| Creators | Drayton, Patricia Drayton |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks |
| Source Sets | Walden University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies |
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