en Gynecology & Obstetrics Gynecology & Obstetrics Original Research Original Research <p> <strong> Abstract </strong></p><p> <strong> Background: </strong>Screening is a necessity for country health systems. In undeveloped </p><p>  countries that have no screening programs, cervical carcinoma is one of the </p><p>  major causes of mortality and morbidity. Although cervical cancer is preventable </p><p>  it is poorly controlled in some countries. The main cause of it is unawareness of </p><p>  people from cervical cancer and screening methods. </p><p> <strong> Methods: </strong>The target population consisted of a consecutive sample of 1002 female </p><p>  patients, 15-45 years old, visiting the city health care centers in Tehran for </p><p>  any reason between January 2006 and January 2007. We used a self-administered, </p><p>  written, anonymous, multiple choice questionnaire that was developed by </p><p>  the study authors. Statistical significance was defined as P<0.05. </p><p> <strong> Results: </strong>The mean of age was 31.23 ± 4.3 years. Five-hundred and twentytwo </p><p>  cases (52.1%) had knowledge about Pap smear test. Only 230 cases (44.1%) </p><p>  knew the correct time of the first Pap smear that should be done in women. And </p><p>  408 cases (77.9%) knew Pap smear can detect cancer of the cervix. 364 cases </p><p>  (71.9%) had heard about cervical cancer, 314 cases (59.9%) had heard something </p><p>  about symptoms of cervical cancer. </p><p> <strong> Conclusion: </strong>It is obvious that in Iran (and especially in Tehran), Pap smear </p><p>  awareness (52.1%) is statistically similar to other developing countries, and only </p><p>  45.9% had had at least one Pap smear test till the time of the interview. Thus, there </p><p>  is a need for an awareness campaign to increase the uptake of Pap smear testing. </p><p>  </p> knowledge, pap smear, cervical carcinoma 68 73 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-45&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Forough Javanmanesh dr.fjavanmanesh@yahoo.com 20031947532846001593 20031947532846001593 Yes Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Farideh Dadkhah 20031947532846001594 20031947532846001594 No Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Iran University of Medical Sciences. Nasrin Zarepour 20031947532846001595 20031947532846001595 No