Participation of the female population in an organised cervical and breast cancer screening programme in Nyíregyháza

Abstract

Introduction: Breast and cervical cancer is a major contributor to deaths caused by cancer among women worldwide and in Hungary. The organized breast and cervical cancer screening programs were implemented in the framework of a public health programme in Hungary. Our aim was to explore the participation in breast and cervical cancer screening of women in the target group of screening programs in Nyíregyháza, comparing it with Hungarian and European data, and to look for the relationship between the demographic and socio-economic factors determining screening participation.
Methods: We analysed the frequency of participating in breast and cervical screening from the study "The quality of life in Nyíregyháza city Household panel" (2018).
Results: 77% of respondents (95% CI:70-83) underwent cervical screening within the three-year interval recommended by the World Health Organization. The mean age of those who participated in the screening within three years was more than 7 years (two-sample t test p <0.001) younger than those who did not participate (44.5 years (SD: 1.07) vs. 51.8 years (SD: 2.09)). We found that participation in cervical screening is significantly higher among those, who live in higher income households and are economically active. 80% of women underwentbreast screening in the two years prior to data collection. The most common reason for participating in mammography (57% (95% CI: 46-68)) was the invitation to an organized screening, in one third of cases for medical advice and in 11% for other reasons. Participants in mammography within two years had an average age of 4 years younger than those who had received mammography for more than two years before or never (57 years (SD: 0.8) vs. 53 years (SD: 1.8)). Those with at least upper secondary education had significantly higher screening rates than those with at most lower secondary education.
Conclusions: The participation of women in Nyíregyháza in breast and cervical screening is not low, but organized screening programs have failed to adequately involve older women of lower socio-economic status.