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

Objectives. Cervical cancer, which is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), results in around 3,000 new cancer cases yearly in the UK. According to recent figures, cervical cancer rates in the UK have increased in young women over the last decade, and screening attendance has fallen to a 10-year low. As the majority of women and people with a cervix 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.

Design. Cross-sectional survey.

Methods. Participants comprised 179 young women and people with a cervix (attendees n = 96, non-attendees n = 83) aged 25 - 30 years old living in the UK. All participants had received a screening invitation. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing the COM-B model components and HPV vaccination status.

Results. 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.

Conclusions. Reflective motivation factors are crucial in encouraging young people to attend cervical cancer screening. Future work should focus on developing interventions that enhance reflective motivation.