OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors associated with low adherence to the Papanicolaou exam in a group of adolescent mothers. METHODS: An observational, transversal study conducted in two public hospitals in Joinville, Santa Catarina. The sample consisted of 416 adolescent mothers. Data were collected during the period from March to September 2010 through interviews, during hospitalization. RESULTS: Adolescents who presented lower adherence to the Papanicolaou testing were younger than 15 years, students, with low education and family income, that used the condom as a contraceptive method, who had only one child, who attended fewer than six prenatal visits, and were not solicited to take the test during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The variables of age range, occupation, education level, years of education, method of contraception, parity, number of prenatal visits and the offer of colpocytological examination during pregnancy, were significantly associated with completion of the Papanicolaou test.
Vaginal smears; Uterine cervical neoplasms; Early diagnosis; Adolescent
