Asian Pacifc Journal of Cancer Prevention, Vol 15, 2014 3011 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7314/APJCP.2014.15.7.3011 Differencies in Knowledge of Cervical Cancer among Medical Students, Midwifes and Lay Women in Serbia Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 15 (7), 3011-3015 Introduction High incidence of the cervical cancer represents a great health problem (Ferlay et al., 2010), and numerous studies have pointed out an important role of nurses and midwives in the cervical cancer prevention (Duval et al., 2009; Gottvall et al., 2009; Kent et al., 2010). Knoweledge levels are of prime concern (Ghotbi and Anai, 2012; Paul et al., 2012; Coscun et al., 2013; Thippeveeranna et al., 2013) Some studies investigated role of the nurses and midwives in the cervical cancer prevention programme (Turkistanlı et al., 2003; Kent et al., 2010) as well as both in HPV (human papillomavirus) infection prevention and prophylactic vaccination (Turkistanlı et al., 2003; Duval et al., 2009) In Serbia, programme of the organized cervical cancer screening started at the end of 2012, and by that time prevention practices were of low priority both for women and gynaecologists (Kesic et al., 2007; Matejic et al., 2008). According to our available literature there is no so far study in our country which either examined differences in the level of knowledge of health care students, midwives and patients pertaining to the cervical cancer, or implementation of the prevention practice. Mandic et al. examined knowledge of the Secondary Abstract Background: Level of midwife knowledge is particularly important because of their role in the cervical cancer prevention programme. The aim of this study was to examine differences in the level of knowledge among health care students, midwives and women in the general population of Serbia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional approach was used with health care students of the medical shool, midwives in their practice, and women visiting a chosen general practitioner as respondents. Results: In comparison with the students and midwives, women had lower level of knowledge of causative agents of the cervical cancer, genital warts, HPV types, screening for cervical cancer as well as about the target population for vaccine and its role. Differences in the numbers of right answers of respondents were statistically signifcant (p<0.001). Four or more correct answers were obtained from 22.7% women, 35.3% from midwives and 83.8% from students. Conclusions: Midwives should improve their own level of knowledge related to preventive practice for cervical cancer, as well as their personal compliance with recommended practices, in order to be qualifed and credible promoters of cervical cancer control among women in Serbia. Keywords: Cervical cancer - knowledge - Pap test - HPV vaccine - health care students - midwives - women RESEARCH ARTICLE Differencies in the Level of Knowledge on Cervical Cancer among Health Care Students, Midwives and Patients in Serbia Ljiljana Gojko Antic 1 *, Bosiljka Svetozar Djikanovic 2 , Dragan Zivojin Antic 1 , Hristos Georgios Aleksopulos 1 , Goran Zivojin Trajkovic 3 Medical School schoolgirls, students of medicine and of other faculties pertaining to the cervical cancer (Mandic et al., 2011) while Dugandzija et al. examined how students of medicine and patients get information on the cervical cancer (Dugandzija et al., 2012). Due to high prevalence of the cervical cancer in Serbia, this study has been designed to examine differences in the level of knowledge of the cervical cancer among female students of health care; midwives and women (patients in primary health care) as well as its application in prevention practice. The aim of the study was to examine differences in the level of knowledge among the female Higher Medical School students, midwives in their practice and women visiting their chosen general practitioner in primary health care. Materials and Methods Examination of the knowledge level of the cervical cancer was carried out by the cross-section study. Three groups of the respondents were formed: the frst one of female students of the College of Health Studies in Cuprija, Department for Medical Nurses-Midwives; the second one of midwives with completed Secondary 1 Department for Medical Nurses-Midwives, College of Health Studies in Cuprija, Cuprija, 2 Institute for Social Medicine, 3 Institute for Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia *For correspondence: ljantic_vms@ hotmail.com