[Socio-cultural aspects of sexuality as obstacles to secondary prevention of cervical cancer]

The purpose of the study is to explore some characteristics of women's perspectives on their sexuality, as there is information that associates the population's sexual culture with the incidence of cervical cancer. The value of sexual pleasure, sexual activity after menopause, and ways of preventing cervical cancer are explored. Data were obtained from a group of women attending primary care clinics in Santiago, Chile, and who were at least a year late for their Pap smear. The value women ascribed to sexuality was more positive than in previous studies performed in Chile. Women want to learn more about their bodies, although a minority still have negative perspectives concerning their sexuality. These results offer health services the opportunity to carry out educational activities with the purpose not only of increasing the number of women who have Pap smears but also of improving their quality of life