{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T01:35:18Z","timestamp":1777944918253,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,1]],"date-time":"2021-01-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609459200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Womens Health (Lond Engl)"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"abstract":"\n Background:<\/jats:title>\n The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an unprecedented upheaval within global healthcare systems and resulted in the temporary pausing of the National Health Service (NHS) Scotland Cervical Screening Programme. With several months of backlogs in appointments, there has not only been a reduction in primary samples being taken for human papilloma virus (HPV) testing but there have also been fewer women referred to colposcopy for investigation and treatment of precancerous or cancerous changes as a result. Encouraging uptake for cervical screening was always a priority before the pandemic, but it is even more important now, considering that the fears and barriers to screening that women may have are now exacerbated by COVID-19.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objectives:<\/jats:title>\n This article explores the impact of the pandemic on the uptake of cervical screening within NHS Ayrshire & Arran and evaluates potential strategies to improve uptake now and in future such as self-sampling and telemedicine.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods:<\/jats:title>\n This article presents evidence-based literature and local health board data relating to cervical screening during the pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results:<\/jats:title>\n Human papilloma virus self-sampling carried out by the woman in her home has been shown to improve uptake, especially in non-attenders, whilst maintaining a high sensitivity and, crucially, reducing the need for face-to-face contact. Increased education is key to overcoming barriers women have to screening and telemedicine can strengthen engagement with women during this time.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n There are lessons to be learned from the pandemic, and we must use this opportunity to improve cervical screening uptake for the future.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/17455065211017070","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,25]],"date-time":"2021-05-25T06:12:11Z","timestamp":1621923131000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Cervical pap smears and pandemics: The effect of COVID-19 on screening uptake & opportunities to improve"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2265-0536","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hannah","family":"Masson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-17455065211017070","unstructured":"NHS Health Scotland. The introduction of HPV testing to cervical screening in Scotland, http:\/\/www.healthscotland.scot\/media\/2883\/hpv-faq-for-sample-takers-november2019-english.pdf (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr2-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Public Health England. NHS cervical screening programme restoration guidance, https:\/\/71633548c5390f9d8a76-11ea5efadf29c8f7bdcc6a216b02560a.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/140520-NHS-CSP-Restoration-Guidance-v1.0.pdf (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr3-17455065211017070","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/human-papillomavirus-(hpv)-and-cervical-cancer (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr4-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bains I, Choi YH, Soldan K, et al. Clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of primary cytology versus human papillomavirus testing for cervical cancer screening in England. Int J Gynaecol Cancer 2019; 29(4): 669\u2013675, https:\/\/ijgc.bmj.com\/content\/29\/4\/669 (accessed 5 December 2020).","DOI":"10.1136\/ijgc-2018-000161"},{"key":"bibr5-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Public Health Scotland. Scottish cervical screening programme statistics, https:\/\/beta.isdscotland.org\/find-publications-and-data\/conditions-and-diseases\/cancer\/scottish-cervical-screening-programme-statistics\/ (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr6-17455065211017070","unstructured":"NHS Ayrshire & Arran cervical screening data (Unpublished data shared by Dr Ruth Holman (see acknowledgments)), https:\/\/www.nhsaaa.net\/services-a-to-z\/cervical-screening\/"},{"key":"bibr7-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Jo\u2019s Cervical Cancer Trust. Overcoming barriers to cervical screening, https:\/\/www.jostrust.org.uk\/professionals\/cervical-screening\/barriers (accessed 20 March 2021)."},{"key":"bibr8-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Jo\u2019s Cervical Cancer Trust. Impact of COVID-19 on cervical screening, https:\/\/www.jostrust.org.uk\/about-us\/news-and-blog\/blog\/impact-covid-19-cervical-screening (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr9-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. Colposcopy guidance during COVID-19 pandemic, https:\/\/www.rcog.org.uk\/globalassets\/documents\/guidelines\/2020-04-17-colposcopy-guidance-during-covid-19-pandemic.pdf (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr10-17455065211017070","unstructured":"Public Health England. Guidance 2: Management and referral guidelines for colposcopy, https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/cervical-screening-programme-and-colposcopy-management\/2-providing-a-quality-colposcopy-clinic#waiting-times (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr11-17455065211017070","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling as part of cervical cancer screening, https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/WHO-SRH-2012 (accessed 5 December 2020)."},{"key":"bibr12-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yeh PT, Kennedy CE, de Vuyst H, et al. Self-sampling for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Glob Health 2019; 4(3): e001351, https:\/\/gh.bmj.com\/content\/bmjgh\/4\/3\/e001351.full.pdf (accessed 5 December 2020).","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2018-001351"},{"key":"bibr13-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Snijders PJ, Verhoef VM, Arbyn M, et al. High-risk HPV testing on self-sampled versus clinician-collected specimens: a review on the clinical accuracy and impact on population attendance in cervical cancer screening. Int J Cancer 2013; 132(10): 2223\u20132236, https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22907569\/ (accessed 5 December 2020)","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.27790"},{"key":"bibr14-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Polman NJ, Ebisch RM, Heideman DA, et al. Performance of human papillomavirus testing on self-collected versus clinician-collected samples for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse: a randomised, paired screen-positive, non-inferiority trial. Lancet Oncol 2019; 20(2): 229\u2013238. https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lanonc\/article\/PIIS1470-2045(18)30763-0\/fulltext#articleInformation (accessed 5 December 2020).","DOI":"10.1016\/S1470-2045(18)30763-0"},{"key":"bibr15-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ajenifuja KO, Belinson J, Goldstein A, et al. Designing low-cost, accurate cervical screening strategies that take into account COVID-19: a role for self-sampled HPV typing. Infect Agent Cancer 2020; 15: 61, https:\/\/infectagentscancer.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s13027-020-00325-4#citeas (accessed 5 December 2020).","DOI":"10.1186\/s13027-020-00325-4"},{"key":"bibr16-17455065211017070","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Feldman S, Haas JS. How the coronavirus disease-2019 may improve care: rethinking cervical cancer prevention. J Nat Cancer Inst 2020; 113(6): djaa089, https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jnci\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/jnci\/djaa089\/5865867 (accessed 5 December 2020).","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djaa089"}],"container-title":["Women's Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/17455065211017070","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/17455065211017070","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/17455065211017070","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,2]],"date-time":"2026-05-02T08:31:53Z","timestamp":1777710713000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/17455065211017070"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"references-count":16,"alternative-id":["10.1177\/17455065211017070"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/17455065211017070","relation":{},"ISSN":["1745-5057","1745-5065"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1745-5057","type":"print"},{"value":"1745-5065","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1]]},"article-number":"17455065211017070"}}