Correlates of intention-to-attend and confirmed cervical screening attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: Findings from Compass-PLUS, a prospective cohort study.
Prev Med Rep
; 45: 102849, 2024 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39220611
ABSTRACT
Objective:
The coronavirus pandemic impacted health-seeking behaviour and access to primary care in Australia. We investigated factors associated with intention-to-attend and attendance of cervical screening during the pandemic, mainly in Victoria, Australia.Methods:
We used questionnaire and attendance data (Aug 2020-Nov 2022) from Compass-PLUS, a sub-study of the Compass randomized-controlled trial of Human Papillomavirus-based vs cytology-based screening. Data was restricted to the HPV-screening arm for comparability to the national program. We investigated associations overall and for younger (25-39 years) and older (≥40 years) cohorts, between intention-to-attend/attendance, and socio-demographics, anxiety-related scores, and agreement with beliefs about screening during the pandemic (e.g. importance of screening, increased workload, working from home, risk of infection).Results:
Among 2,226 participants, positive intention to attend screening was more likely among those with a family history of cancer (p = 0.030) or living outside major cities (p = 0.024). Increased attendance was associated with increasing age (p < 0.001), prior regular cervical screening history [adjusted relative risk (aRR) for 2 screens in 6 years vs none 1.23 (95 %CI 1.09,1.40); p < 0.001], and part-time employment or retirement compared to full-time employment [aRR1.08 (1.02,1.14); aRR1.12 (1.03, 1.22); respectively]. Lower attendance was related to increased agreement with statements indicating screening de-prioritisation (p-trend < 0.05) and higher recent anxiety, specifically in the older cohort (p-trend = 0.002).Conclusions:
Reduced priority of screening and heightened recent anxiety may partly explain indications of lower-than-expected cervical screening rates during the pandemic. It is important that catch-up of missed HPV screens is performed to prevent a possible increase in cancer diagnoses in the long term.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Prev Med Rep
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália