Post-reproductive aged women: a lost generation in the cervical cancer screening programme.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to find out why some post-reproductive aged women did not participate in the organised cervical cancer screening programme in Latvia and to clarify factors that would motivate them to take part.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out between January and July 2017 among female patients in three general practitioner (GP) practices. GP practice nurses used the Latvian national health service database to identify women aged 25-70 who had not participated in the organised programme for the last 3 years. Participants were asked to complete a specially developed questionnaire. The results were then compared between three age groups: 25-34, 35-49 and 50-70 years.

Results: Included in the study were 523 out of 992 women who had not attended screening; 41% were in the age group 50-70 years. Post-reproductive aged women statistically significantly more often did not take part in the programme because of lack of time (26.4%), too great a distance to the gynaecology screening clinic (10.4%), lengthy appointment waiting time (8.5%) and a belief that a smear test was unnecessary for them (8.5%); 32.1% of women in this age group indicated that if the cervical screen could be carried out by their GP it would facilitate their participation in the programme.

Conclusion: Post-reproductive aged women in Latvia often do not attend cervical cancer screening. Analysis of personal and organisational barriers confirmed that the involvement of GPs would encourage older women to participate in the organised screening programme.