Health Education To Improve Adolescents' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Early Cervical Cancer Prevention
Keywords:
helath education, cervical cancer, adolescents, ROSEAbstract
Background: Cervical cancer remains a major public health problem due to its high incidence and mortality rates. Limited knowledge regarding cervical cancer prevention and early detection is one of the factors hindering effective disease control. Health education is therefore needed as a strategy to improve public knowledge and promote preventive behaviors. Health promotion targeting adolescents is particularly important because adolescence is a critical period for establishing lifelong health behaviors. Objective: To improve adolescents' knowledge and attitudes regarding early cervical cancer prevention. Methods: This community service program employed a lecture-based health education approach on cervical cancer prevention through the Reproductive Organ Self-Examination (ROSE) technique involving 26 female students from SMA Negeri 4 Banda Aceh. The intervention was evaluated using a pretest–posttest design with a questionnaire consisting of 10 knowledge items and 15 attitude statements related to cervical cancer prevention and the ROSE method. Data were analyzed descriptively using frequency distributions, percentages, and comparisons of pre- and post-intervention scores. Results: Participants' knowledge improved following the health education intervention, with the proportion of those categorized as having good knowledge increasing from 15.36% to 57.69%. Participants' attitudes toward cervical cancer prevention also improved, with the proportion of those demonstrating positive attitudes increasing from 15.36% to 65.38%. Conclusion: Health education using the ROSE method can improve adolescents' knowledge and attitudes regarding cervical cancer prevention. Therefore, regular reproductive health education should be implemented to enhance adolescents' awareness of early cervical cancer detection.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Roma Sitio, Lathifah Hanum, Afdhal Muchtar, Putro Simeulu, Ainal Mardhiah, Muliya Sari (Author)
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