BRITISH REALITY television star Jade Goody’s decision to publicise her cervical cancer in the months leading up to her death should have an enormously positive impact on early screening in Ireland, judging by new research on awareness about the condition.
The research on women’s perceptions and knowledge about cervical cancer and screening has found a marked age disparity in how the smear test is viewed.
Younger women were less aware of the risks, and more likely to avoid paying for a test if it was required, the study by Rachel Comer, part-time lecturer at NUI Galway and staff midwife at Mayo General Hospital, has found.
In Britain, the national screening programme for cervical cancer dates back to 1978, whereas it was only instituted here last year. A national immunisation programme for 12-year-old girls has been cancelled by Minister for Health Mary Harney on budgetary grounds.
Ms Comer conducted her research before Cervical Check, as the national programme is called, was rolled out, and completed it as part of postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
She took a sample of women in Co Mayo, and compared perceptions and knowledge of cervical cancer and the smear test screening among two separate age groups – women aged 25- 39, and women aged 40-65.
She found awareness of the condition was far lower than that for breast cancer, and perceptions of a “stigma” were evident.
The older age group had a far better awareness of the need for screening every three years, whereas young women often only learned about it during requests for contraception from general practitioners (GPs).
“In that sense, GPs and practice nurses have been the greatest source of disseminating information on this to women,” Ms Comer has observed.
Younger women also had an issue with paying for a smear test, before Cervical Check’s initiation, whereas women in the older age group didn’t mind paying as their health was their priority.
Many of the women agreed that there was a need for better communication about the test, the use of a warm speculum, and the provision of counselling for those women who had a bad experience.
They also highlighted the need for follow-up information with test results.
Ms Comer said the research underpinned the vital need for a national programme, but also highlighted the need for far more information.
"There are very good leaflets at GP clinics, and the television advertising is good, but we may need a lot more discussion on this – perhaps on soaps such as RTÉ television's Fair City," she suggested.
Ms Comer presented her findings to some 200 delegates at the second international nursing and midwifery conference in NUIG earlier this month.
