Cervical screening: little change in a decade with around one in five women still not screened within five years

About one in five eligible women in England have not had cervical screening within the last five years – broadly the same as a decade ago – according to a Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) report.

At 31 March 2012, 78.6 per cent of eligible women aged 25 to 64 had been screened at least once in the previous five years. This percentage, known as coverage, is the same as the previous year but three percentage points lower than in 2002 (81.6 per cent).

Today’s report; Cervical Screening Programme, England, 2011-12, is used to inform policy and to monitor the quality and effectiveness of screening services.

It also presents information about the programme’s target age group (25 to 64 year-olds) as two sub-groups: 25 to 49-year-olds, who are invited for screening every three years, and 50 to 64-year-olds, who are invited for screening every five years.

For 25 to 49-year-olds, coverage was at 73.5 per cent at March 31 2012. This compares to 73.7 per cent in 2011 and 71.7 per cent in 20025.

For 50 to 64-year-olds, coverage was at 77.8 per cent at March 31 2012, compared to 78.0 per cent in 2011 and 81.0 per cent in 2002.

Coverage for the overall target group does not necessarily mimic the direction of change of the two subgroups, as it is a broader calculation based on women screened in the last 5 years3.

The report also shows that among women aged 25 to 64:

• Coverage at March 31 2012 varied between England’s 10 Strategic Health Authorities, with the highest reported coverage in the East Midlands at 81.0 per cent and the lowest in London at 74.1 per cent.

• 4.7 million women were invited for a screening test in 2011-12, an 8.4 per cent increase on the 4.3 million invited in 2010-11.

• 3.6 million women were tested in 2011-12, a 6.3 per cent increase on the 3.4 million tested in 2010-11.

• 95.2 per cent of test results in 2011-12 were reported to have had an expected delivery date of within two weeks, compared to 78.9 per cent in 2010-11.

Cervical Screening: Coverage by Age Group, at 31 March, 2002 to 2012

HSCIC’s Chief Executive Tim Straughan said: “Today’s figures provide invaluable information about cervical screening in England – as without good quality information it is impossible to clearly measure the reach of such a vital programme.

“Today’s figures suggest that the proportion of women who have not had an adequate test within the last five years has remained broadly similar over the last decade – with about one in five not having screening within five years.

“If we drill down into the figures further, they point to lower coverage amongst 50 to 64-year-olds compared to 2002. However for younger women aged 25 to 49, although current coverage is a slight fall on the previous two years it is still higher than a decade ago.”

The report can be accessed at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/cervscreen1112

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), formerly the NHS Information Centre, is now known by its formal, legal name; reflecting its broader social care responsibilities. We are England’s authoritative, central, independent source of health and social care information. We work with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Our role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. We also produce a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas.
2. Women between the ages of 25 and 64 are invited for regular cervical screening under the NHS screening programme. This is intended to detect abnormalities within the cervix that could, if untreated, develop into cancer. National policy is that women are offered screening every three or five years depending on their age. Women aged 25-49 are invited every 3 years, whereas those aged 50-64 are invited every 5 years.
3. Coverage is defined as the percentage of women in a population who were eligible for screening at a given point in time (i.e. March 31st, at any given year) and who were screened adequately within a specified period.
4. For the complete target age group (25 to 64 years), coverage is calculated as the number of women in this age group who have had an adequate screening test within the last 5 years as a percentage of the eligible population aged 25-64. For those aged 25-49, coverage is calculated as the number of women in this age group who have had an adequate screening test within the last 3.5 years as a percentage of the eligible population aged 25 to 49. For those aged 50-64, coverage is calculated as the number of women in this age group who have had an adequate screening test within the last 5 years as a percentage of the eligible population aged 50 to 64.
5. Women ineligible for screening, and thus not included in the numerator or denominator of the coveragecalculation, are those whose recall has been ceased for clinical reasons (most commonly due to hysterectomy).
6. Definitions: Screened – a woman has been screened if she has had an adequate cervical screening test result.  A woman who has had only an inadequate test has not been screened. Tested – a woman has been tested if she has had a cervical screening test, regardless of the result.
7. Prior to 2004, women were invited for screening at intervals of not more than five years and therefore there was some variation in local practice. The coverage figure for 2002 will therefore include women who were eligible for screening but who had not been invited within the previous three and a half years.
8. For media enquires please call 0845 257 6990 or contact mediaenquiries@ic.nhs.uk

Tags: