Non-speculum sampling with a clinician boosts cervical screening uptake in older women

In this episode we speak to Dr Anita Lim who is a Senior Research Fellow, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London.Paper: Non-speculum sampling approaches for cervical screening in older women: randomised controlled trialhttps://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0350Inadequately screened women aged 50 and older are at a disproportionately higher risk of cervical cancer and dying from it. Speculum use is a major barrier to cervical screening and can become more uncomfortable with ageing and the menopause. Although self-sampling has been hailed as a game-changer for cervical screening, it does not appeal to all women. This study showed that offering a choice of non-speculum clinician sampling or self-sampling substantially increased cervical screening uptake in older lapsed attendees across all ethnicities, an approach which could be easily implemented into existing practice in primary care.