Ending cervical cancer screening: attitudes and beliefs from ethnically diverse older women.
OBJECTIVE
Guidelines support ending cervical cancer screening in women aged 65-70 years and older with previous normal testing, but little is known about older women's attitudes and beliefs about ending screening.


METHODS
We conducted face-to-face interviews with 199 women aged 65 and older in English, Spanish, Cantonese, or Mandarin.


RESULTS
Most interviewees were nonwhite (44.7% Asian, 18.1% Latina, and 11.6% African American). Most (68%) thought lifelong screening was either important or very important, a belief held more strongly by African American (77%) and Latina (83%) women compared with women in other ethnic groups (P < .01). Most (77%) had no plans to discontinue screening or had ever thought of discontinuing (69%). When asked if they would end screening if recommended by their physician, 68% responded "yes."


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of these women believe that lifelong cervical cancer screening is important. Many women, however, reported that they would end screening if recommended by their physician.
Sawaya
George F
GF
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Iwaoka-Scott
A Yuri
AY
Kim
Sue
S
Wong
Sabrina T
ST
Huang
Alison J
AJ
Washington
A Eugene
AE
Pérez-Stable
Eliseo J
EJ
D000368:Aged; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology