July 2024
Cervical cancer screening in patients with mental illness in the Australian context
John Dang Trinh Nguyen,1 Margo Barr,2 Jitendra Jonnagaddala,3 Joel Rhee1
1School of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
2Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
3School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
Background and objectives
Cervical cancer screening decreases related morbidity and mortality when utilised. Patients with mental illness might have variable screening rates, with possible late diagnoses. The study aims to: (1) compare screening rates in patients with versus without mental illness; (2) identify predictive factors for screening; and (3) determine the impact of mental illness on diagnosis and disease-specific mortality.
Methods
This is a retrospective cohort study of Central and Eastern Sydney Primary and Community Health Cohort data from randomly recruited participants aged ≥45 years who completed baseline and follow-up surveys. It includes health behaviour, primary care and cancer registry data. Chi-squared and multivariate logistic regression will be used.
Results
Outcome analyses are pending access to the complete registry data.
Discussion
This study might emphasise reduced cervical cancer screening rates in patients with mental illness and its impact, and associations identified with screening will guide primary care intervention.