Cervical screening attendance in young women and people with a cervix: An application of the COM-B model

Cervical cancer (CC), which is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), results in around 3000 new cancer cases yearly in the UK. According to recent figures, rates in the UK have increased by 13% in young women over the last decade; screening attendance has fallen to a 10-year low. As the majority of women now reaching the screening age (24.5 years old) will be HPV vaccinated, research is needed to assess the possible impact of this successful immunisation programme on screening behaviours as well as to further our understanding of the current barriers and facilitators to screening and how these may differ between attendees and non-attendees.

Cross-sectional survey.

Participants comprised 200 young women (attendees n = 100, non-attendees n = 100) aged 25-30 years old living in the UK. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing COM-B model components and HPV vaccination status.

A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that reflective motivation was the only COM-B component that was a significant independent predictor of screening attendance, such that higher reflective motivation scores increased the odds of having attended cervical screening. In addition, HPV-vaccinated individuals had significantly greater odds of having attended screening when compared to non-vaccinated individuals.

Reflective motivational factors are crucial in encouraging young women to attend CC screening. Future work should focus on developing interventions that enhance reflective motivation.