Factors explaining men’s intentions to support their partner’s participation in cervical cancer screening
Open accessAbstract
Background: Cervical cancer represents a high burden of disease. Many women in low- and middle-income countries face opposition from their partners and families to undergo cervical cancer screening. Identifying the social, cultural, and psychological factors that underly the opposition to screening by male partners is an important step towards reducing barriers for men to support their wives’ participation in cervical screening. This study explored the role of structural and psychological factors deriving from theoretical models as determinants of Indian men’s opposition to their partners being screened for cervical cancer. Methods: A survey among 500 sexually active males was conducted between April 2020 and August 2020 to measure knowledge of cervical cancer and screening, awareness of screening possibilities, attitude towards screening, perceived barriers to screening, and health literacy. Regression analysis was performed to assess which of the potential factors contributed to the intention to support their wives’ screening. Results: The majority of participants had very poor knowledge and awareness about cervical cancer and screening procedures, tended towards a negative attitude towards screening, and perceived several structural barriers. Attitude towards the screening procedure and routine participation in general screening significantly predicted their intention to support their wives’ screening for cervical cancer. Education moderated the association between knowledge and awareness and the intention to support their wives’ screening. Conclusion: As women often rely on their spouses’ financial and emotional support of cervical screening, there is a need for men to be encouraged to support their wives’ screening participation. Programs to encourage men to support their wives’ cervical screening should focus on their attitude towards screening, educate about cervical cancer and screening procedures, and reduce perceived barriers.
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For women, personal relationships with their spouses might play a significant role in countries where men traditionally make decisions regarding women's health.
“For women, personal relationships with their spouses might play a significant role in countries where men traditionally make decisions regarding women's health [34].”
From Improving cancer screening uptake: A behavioural and cultural insights perspective and rapid review (2026) · cites this paper as [34]
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- Authors
- Dsouza, J. P., Van den Broucke, S., Pattanshetty, S., & Dhoore, W.
- Affiliations
- UCLouvain (BE)
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Dsouza, Jyoshma Preema
- Venue
- BMC Women's Health
- Published
- 2022-11-11
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 443-443
- ISSN
- 1472-6874 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9652784
- OpenAlex
- W4309046083
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7
- FWCI
- 3.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Women s Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (KU Leuven) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DIAL (Catholic University of Leuven) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Cervical Cancer and HPV Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
- Keywords
- cervical cancer screening, male partner support, spousal support, barriers to screening, attitudes toward screening, cervical cancer knowledge, health literacy, education as moderator, Indian men, low- and middle-income countries
- MeSH terms
- Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Female, Humans, Male, Men, Spouses, Intention, Early Detection of Cancer
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