AB032. Factors associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening: a population-based study of 2,305 Chinese females
Abstract

AB032. Factors associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening: a population-based study of 2,305 Chinese females

Junjie Huang1, Chun Ho Ngai1, Man Sing Tin1, Veeleah Lok2, Xianjing Liu3, Lin Zhang4, Jinqiu Yuan5, Wanghong Xu6, Zhi-Jie Zheng7, Martin Wong1

1JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; 2Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden; 3Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 4Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; 5Clinical Research Centre, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; 6School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; 7Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, China

Correspondence to: Junjie Huang. JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Email: junjie_huang@link.cuhk.edu.hk.

Background: Cervical cancer screening is one of the most common cancers amongst females. It is also one of the leading causes of female cancer death globally and in Hong Kong. Cervical cancer screening has been suggested as an effective means to reduce the incidence and mortality rate; however, the uptake rate remains suboptimal in many countries. In 2017, the proportion of Hong Kong women aged 61–64 who registered for the cervical cancer screening programme run by the government was only 22.1%. To provide more insights on enhancing the uptake rate, we explored the association between socio-demographic factors and cervical cancer screening uptake among a Chinese population.

Methods: Data from 2,305 participants were collected through a telephone survey via simple random sampling of telephone numbers in a territory-wide directory (from 2016 to 2018). Sociodemographic factors (e.g., education level, marital status, occupation status, income level) and health-related factors (e.g., smoking habit, self-perceived health condition) were collected. A binary logistic regression model was constructed to identify the association between the above factors and cervical cancer screening uptake.

Results: Older individuals [66–70 vs. 61–65 (referent): adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =0.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.50–0.79, P<0.001] and lower level of self-perceived health condition (normal vs. very good: AOR =0.54, 95% CI: 0.37–0.79, P<0.001) were less likely to participate. In contrast, higher monthly household income (HKD >20,000 vs. HKD ≤10,000: AOR =1.93, 95% CI: 1.46–2.55, P<0.001) and higher level of education (tertiary vs. primary: AOR =4.15, 95% CI: 2.64–6.50, P<0.001) were significantly associated with cervical cancer screening.

Conclusions: Policy-makers may develop new strategies, such as education, publicity, and subsidies among these target groups in order to enhance the participation rate of cervical cancer screening. Our findings suggested that age, self-perceived health condition, household income, and education level were associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening. Future studies may identify effective strategies to increase its uptake rate.

Keywords: Screening; cervical cancer; Hong Kong

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the noncommercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/jphe-21-ab032
Cite this abstract as: Huang J, Ngai CH, Tin MS, Lok V, Liu X, Zhang L, Yuan J, Xu W, Zheng ZJ, Wong M. AB032. Factors associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening: a population-based study of 2,305 Chinese females. J Public Health Emerg 2021;5:AB032.

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