Abstract
Background
While cervical cancer screening is useful for detecting and then treating the disease at an early stage, most women with screen-positive results are free from cervical cancer but nevertheless subject to the unnecessary worry entailed in receiving such results. The purpose of this study was to examine whether receiving a screen-positive result was actually related to psychological distress among Japanese women who underwent cervical cancer screening.
Methods
We conducted a questionnaire survey at health facilities in a semiurban city of Ibaraki prefecture, involving 1744 women who underwent cervical cancer screening and 72 who received screen-positive results and then underwent further testing. We used the K6 scale to assess their psychological distress (K6 score ≥5) and performed multiple logistic regression analyses to estimate the relative effect of receiving screen-positive results on psychological distress.
Results
Psychological distress was more prevalent among women with screen-positive results (OR 2.22; 95 % CI 1.32–3.74), while it was also related to history of mental health consultation (OR 2.26; 95 % CI 1.69–3.01) and marital status (OR 1.32; 95 % CI 1.02–1.70).
Conclusions
Receiving a positive cervical cancer screening result was associated with psychological distress. To alleviate this psychological impact, the current form of communicating the screening results should be reconsidered.
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Acknowledgments
We thank all the women who agreed to take part in this study and acknowledge the generous cooperation of the all facilities.
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Isaka, Y., Inada, H., Hiranuma, Y. et al. Psychological impact of positive cervical cancer screening results among Japanese women. Int J Clin Oncol 22, 102–106 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-016-1023-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-016-1023-8