Velentzis, Louiza S. and Egger, Sam and Waller, Jo and Jennett, Chloe J. and Brotherton, Julia M. L. and Smith, Megan A. and Bateson, Deborah and Rogers, Caitlin and Pagotto, Amy and Skinner, Rachel and Taylor, Natalie and Edge, Rhiannon and Saville, Marion and Canfell, Karen (2024) 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. Preventive Medicine Reports, 45. ISSN 2211-3355, DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102849.
Full text not available from this repository.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 >= 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).<br /> 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 aRR:1.08 (1.02,1.14); aRR:1.12 (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).<br /> 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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia [Grant No: 2015739] |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Early detection of cancer; Uterine cervical neoplasms; Papillomavirus infections; COVID-19; Intention; Anxiety; Demography; Behaviours |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Oct 2025 01:36 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Oct 2025 01:36 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/46577 |
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