Barriers to the cervical cancer screening attendance among Czech women

Abstract

Objective: The main aim of this study was to find the specific barriers to cervical cancer screening attendance that Czech women declare. Furthermore, the objective was to find out whether there are differences between women who do and do not attend screening according to sociodemographic characteristics. Finally, we investigated whether women who do not attend the screening differ by sociodemographic characteristics in declaring particular barriers to attendance.

Methods: Data were collected using a representative questionnaire survey. Women were asked about their previous participation in the cervical cancer screening program.  Those who did not attend screening in the past two years or those who do not (intend to) attend screening regularly were considered nonattendees. Non-attendees were then asked about their reasons for non-attendance in the screening. First, descriptive statistical methods were used to analyse the data. Second, the differences between the different groups of women were analysed by Pearson's chi-squared independence test.

Results: In the studied sample population (n=902), 36.7% were considered nonattendees. Statistically significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics (age, education, marital status, household) were observed between attendees and nonattendees. The three most common reasons for nonattendance were: 'I do not experience any symptoms', 'fear of cancer diagnosis', and 'fear of the examination procedure'. Almost no differences in sociodemographic characteristics in the declaration of particular barriers to attendance were found.

Conclusion: We observed differences between women who attended and those who did not attend the screening. However, sociodemographic characteristics do not play an important role once a woman decides not to attend the screening. Therefore, it is essential to communicate cancer prevention throughout the spectrum of Czech women.