Colposcopy attendance and deprivation: A retrospective analysis of 27 193 women in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme

Citation

Douglas E, Wardle J, Massat NJ & Waller J (2015) Colposcopy attendance and deprivation: A retrospective analysis of 27 193 women in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. British Journal of Cancer, 113 (1), pp. 119-122. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2015.176

Abstract
Background: Attendance for cervical screening is socially graded, but little is known about patterns of attendance for colposcopy following an abnormal screening result. Methods: Logistic regression was used to regress colposcopy attendance status for 27 193 women against age and area-level deprivation, adjusting for ethnicity. Results: Colposcopy attendance was high at 8 weeks (89%) and 4 months post-referral (94%) but women living in the most deprived areas were significantly less likely to attend. Conclusions: The high overall attendance rates at colposcopy are encouraging but lower attendance among women in the most income-deprived areas indicates that even when these women attend primary cervical screening, they remain at higher risk of missing out on the benefits of the programme.

Keywords
cancer screening; colposcopy; socioeconomic inequalities

Journal
British Journal of Cancer: Volume 113, Issue 1

People

Dr Elaine Douglas

Associate Professor, Dementia and Ageing