Cancer screening for women is least successful amongst the poor and ethnic minorities, researchers warned today.
A new study led by Dr Kath Moser and colleagues at Oxford University, UK, asked 3,185 UK women aged 40-74 years whether they had ever attended a mammogram or cervical smear.
Most (91 per cent) had had at least one cervical smear, and 93 per cent of those aged 53-74 years had had a mammogram.
On the website of the British Medical Journal, the researchers write: "Women were significantly more likely to have had a mammogram if they lived in households with cars and in owner-occupied housing.
"For cervical screening, ethnicity was the most important predictor; white British women were significantly more likely to have had a cervical smear than were women of other ethnicity."
Inequalities in the use of screening differ by screening type, they conclude.
Professor Julietta Patnick of the NHS Cancer Screening Programmes said: "The challenge for the screening programmes is to make sure our services reach all parts of the population so we can reduce health inequalities.
"On the one hand we need to look at where mammography is available to make it easy for women to get to their appointments without having to travel too far; while with cervical screening, we need to ensure we’re providing information in an accessible way so all women can make informed decisions about whether or not to take up their invitation."
Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK commented: "It’s really worrying that so many women from ethnic minority groups don’t go for screening. We know screening saves lives so it’s crucial that women go when invited."
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