Experts Say Lack of Screening Is to Blame for the Rise of Cervical Cancer
While study authors say it’s possible the increase in cervical cancer among millennial women is due in part to better detection, the more likely explanation is missed screening. In fact, research shows a decline in screening in millennials in particular.
One study published in JAMA Network Open found that of 20,557 U.S. women surveyed between 2005 and 2019, the percentage of those overdue for cervical cancer screening rose from 14 percent to 23 percent over those 14 years. And women ages 21 to 29 were significantly more likely to be overdue for screening than those between the ages of 30 and 65.
“Cervical cancer is preventable,” says Ryan Suk, PhD, an assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta and the first author of the screening study. “But the incidence of the disease is higher than it should be, in part because a considerable number of women aren’t being screened in a timely manner.”
Barriers to Screening
So why aren’t women getting screened? The most common reason given by participants in the JAMA Network Open study was “lack of knowledge,” which rose from 45 percent to 55 percent during the study period, followed by “not receiving recommendations from health care professionals,” which increased from 6 percent to 12 percent.
Meanwhile, another unfortunate cervical cancer trend is emerging among millennials, which experts say is also due to lack of screening at earlier ages. Analyzing data from 2001 to 2017, a group of researchers discovered late-stage cervical cancer is on the rise in the United States, with a particularly high rate of increase among millennials, at 3.4 percent a year.
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