<b>Feelings of women infected by HPV after receiving the diagnosis</b> - doi: 10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v10i3.10054

Abstract

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a virus, transmitted through sexual contact, with potential to become carcinogenic for the uterine cervix, making the infected women a problem for the public health. This research had a qualitative focus, with reference to the Existential phenomenology by Martin Heidegger, with the intention of understanding the feelings of women infected by HPV, after getting the positive test results. Were subjected to this research 14 women HPV positive. We based our research on these questions: What does HPV positive mean for you? Tell me the experience that you had since you knew you were infected until today. The feelings mentioned by the women were: suffering, desperation, frustration, guilt, preoccupation, embarrassment and fear. Knowing these feelings made possible to better understand the process that these infected women went through after the diagnosis, and the meaning of what is to live with HPV. The results showed that health professionals should make some improvements as for the care to women infected by HPV, going beyond the services restricted to the rationality of biomedical sciences. It showed to be necessary be-with-the-other and rediscover the depth of the human beings role in their daily life, in order to intervene with quality in health care.