Testing the content for a targeted age-relevant intervention to promote cervical screening uptake in women aged...

Low uptake of cervical screening in women in their 50s and 60s leaves them at elevated risk of cancer in older age. An age-targeted intervention could be an effective way to motivate older women to attend cervical screening. Our primary objective was to test the impact of different candidate messages on cervical screening intention strength.

A cross-sectional online survey with randomized exposure to different candidate messages.

Women aged 50-64 years who were not intending to be screened when next invited were recruited through an online panel. Those meeting the inclusion criteria (n = 825) were randomized to one of three groups: (1) control group, (2) intervention group 1, (3) intervention group 2. Each intervention group saw three candidate messages. These included a descriptive social norms message, a diagram illustrating the likelihood of each possible screening outcome, a response efficacy message, a risk reduction message and an acknowledgement of the potential for screening discomfort. We tested age-targeted versions (vs. generic) of some messages. The primary outcome was screening intention strength.

After adjusting for baseline intention, social norms (p = .425), outcome expectancy (p = .367), risk reduction (p = .090), response efficacy (p = .136) and discomfort acknowledgement messages (p = .181) had no effect on intention strength. Age-targeted messages did not result in greater intention than generic ones.

There was no evidence that a single message used to convey social norms, outcome expectancy, risk reduction or response efficacy had an impact on intention strength for older women who did not plan to be screened in future.