{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T21:47:02Z","timestamp":1792100822584,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2014,12,1]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Ethnic minority women are less likely to attend cervical screening.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>To explore self-perceived barriers to cervical screening attendance among ethnic minority women compared to white British women.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Qualitative interview study.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Community groups in ethnically diverse London boroughs.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Interviews were carried out with 43 women from a range of ethnic minority backgrounds (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, African, Black British, Black other, White other) and 11 White British women. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Framework analysis.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Fifteen women had delayed screening\/had never been screened. Ethnic minority women felt that there was a lack of awareness about cervical cancer in their community, and several did not recognise the terms \u2018cervical screening\u2019 or \u2018smear test\u2019. Barriers to cervical screening raised by all women were emotional (fear, embarrassment, shame), practical (lack of time) and cognitive (low perceived risk, absence of symptoms). Emotional barriers seemed to be more prominent among Asian women. Low perceived risk of cervical cancer was influenced by beliefs about having sex outside of marriage and some women felt a diagnosis of cervical cancer might be considered shameful. Negative experiences were well remembered by all women and could be a barrier to repeat attendance.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>\n               <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Emotional barriers (fear, embarrassment and anticipated shame) and low perceived risk might contribute to explaining lower cervical screening coverage for some ethnic groups. Interventions to improve knowledge and understanding of cervical cancer are needed in ethnic minority communities, and investment in training for health professionals may improve experiences and encourage repeat attendance for all women.<\/jats:p>\n               <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/jfprhc-2014-101082","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,13]],"date-time":"2015-01-13T00:27:17Z","timestamp":1421108837000},"page":"248-254","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":192,"title":["Barriers to cervical cancer screening among ethnic minority women: a qualitative study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Laura A V","family":"Marlow","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Senior Research Associate, Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jo","family":"Waller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Principal Research Associate, Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jane","family":"Wardle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Professor of Clinical Psychology, Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.1","unstructured":"Screening and Immunisations Team H&SCIC. NHS Cervical Screening Programme Statistical Bulletin (England 2012-13). 2013. http:\/\/www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk\/cervical\/statistics-bulletin.html [accessed 4 August 2014]."},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.b2025"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2005.07.017"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jms.8.4.183"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/pubmed\/fdh128"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.6","unstructured":"Department of Health. Cancer Reform Stratergy. 2007. http:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/NHSEngland\/NSF\/Documents\/Cancer%20Reform%20Strategy.pdf [accessed 4 August 2014]."},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1369-7625.2007.00478.x"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13625180600841827"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1471-0528.2011.03030.x","article-title":"Exploring age differences in reasons for nonattendance for cervical screening: a qualitative study","volume":"119","author":"Waller","year":"2012","journal-title":"BJOG"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2009.09.011"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.11","first-page":"1126","article-title":"Intercultural consultations: investigation of factors that deter non-English speaking women from attending their general practitioners for cervical screening","volume":"309","author":"Naish","year":"1994","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jfprhc-2011-100144"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1136\/jfprhc-2013-100705","article-title":"Attitudes towards cytology and human papillomavirus self-sample collection for cervical screening among Hindu women in London, UK: a mixed methods study","volume":"41","author":"Cadman","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1258\/jms.2009.009069","article-title":"Exploring the acceptability of two self-sampling devises for human papilloma testing in the cervical screening context: a qualitative study of Muslim women in London","volume":"19","author":"Szarewski","year":"2009","journal-title":"J Med Screen"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grandahl M , Tyd\u00e9n T , Gottvall M , et al . Immigrant women's experiences and views on the prevention of cervical cancer: a qualitative study. Health Expect 2012; 16 December. doi:10.1111\/hex.12034 [Epub ahead of print].","DOI":"10.1111\/hex.12034"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.16","unstructured":"2001 Census questionnaires (England Household form H1). http:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/ons\/guide-method\/census\/census-2001\/about-census-2001\/census-2001-forms\/index.html [accessed 10 November 2014]."},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"749","DOI":"10.1002\/pon.3464","article-title":"Facilitators and barriers to help-seeking for breast and cervical cancer symptoms: a qualitative study with an ethnically diverse sample in London","volume":"23","author":"Marlow","year":"2013","journal-title":"Psychooncology"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.18","unstructured":"Ritchie J . The applications of qualitative methods to social research. In: Ritchie J , Lewis J ( eds), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. London, UK: SAGE Publications, 2003;24\u201346."},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"702","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2012.05.005","article-title":"Awareness of cancer risk factors among ethnic minority groups in England","volume":"126","author":"Marlow","year":"2012","journal-title":"Public Health"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6605387"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1258\/jms.2010.009112"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/bjc.2011.406"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1054","DOI":"10.4314\/ahs.v13i4.28","article-title":"Assessment of psychological barriers to cervical cancer screening among women in Kumasi, Ghana using a mixed methods approach","volume":"13","author":"Williams","year":"2013","journal-title":"Afr Health Sci"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.12968\/ijpn.2005.11.11.20096"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6601892"},{"key":"2025090511312517000_41.4.248.26","first-page":"251","article-title":"A critical review of the literature on the uptake of cervical and breast screening in British South Asian women","volume":"18","author":"Sokal","year":"2010","journal-title":"Quality in Primary Care"}],"container-title":["Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/jfprhc-2014-101082","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,5]],"date-time":"2025-09-05T18:53:22Z","timestamp":1757098402000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jfprhc.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/jfprhc-2014-101082"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,12]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,22]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/jfprhc-2014-101082"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/jfprhc-2014-101082","relation":{},"ISSN":["1471-1893","2045-2098"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1471-1893","type":"print"},{"value":"2045-2098","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,1,12]]}}}