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A family practice residency cervical screening project: perceived screening barriers
R Branoff1, K Santi, J K Campbell
1Family Practice Residency Program, Halifax Medical Center, Daytona Beach, Fla, USA.
Background And Objectives:
A community-based family practice residency program initiated a cervical screening project to provide free Pap smears to women who had not had one in 3 years. The research identified reasons why patients had not been screened within the past 3 years.
Methods:
A total of 214 consecutive participants in the free Pap smear clinic completed questionnaires. The questionnaire asked about reasons why screening had not occurred over the last 3 years.
Results:
Altogether, 65.4% of the study group reported cost-related factors as barriers to participation; 37.9% cited either scheduling concerns, fear, or embarrassment; and 36% cited misinformation issues about either screening recommendations, effectiveness of treatment, or disease presentation.
Conclusions:
Strategies to increase participation in Pap smear screening clinics may include increasing availability of free or low-cost screening examinations, increasing time efficiency and scheduling flexibility of examinations, and making efforts to mitigate the fear and embarrassment associated with the exam.