Abstract
OBJECTIVESThis study was conducted to analyze the inequalities in Papanicolaou test (also referred to as the Pap smear) uptake according to the socio-demographic characteristics of Peruvian women 30 years to 59 years of age using information from the 2015-2017 Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES, acronym in Spanish).METHODSThis is an analytical, cross-sectional study based on information acquired from the 2015-2017 ENDES surveys. Socio-demographic characteristics were reported using absolute frequencies and weighted proportions with 95% confidence intervals, considering results with a p-value <0.05 as statistically significant. Concentration curves (CCs) and concentration indices (IndCs) were created based on the interaction of the wealth index and uptake of Pap smears, taking into account the different characteristics of the population studied for the measure of inequalities.RESULTSAll the CCs were distributed below the line of equality. Similarly, all the IndCs were higher than zero, indicating inequality in the uptake of Pap smears, favoring those with a higher wealth index. The highest IndC values were obtained from women aged 50-59 (IndC, 0.293), those who lived in the jungle (IndC, 0.230), and those without health insurance (IndC, 0.173).CONCLUSIONSWe found socio-demographic inequalities in the uptake of Pap smears in Peru, favoring women with a higher wealth index. More funding is needed to promote cervical cancer screening programs and to create systems that ensure equal access to healthcare in Peru.
Highlights
Data from a total of 27,991 women between 30 years and 59 years of age who participated in the ENDES 2015-2017 were included (Figure 1)
We sought to analyze the socio-demographic inequalities in the uptake of the Pap test among Peruvian women
We found that only 60.4% of those surveyed between the years 2015-2017 had undergone a Pap test in the 3 years prior to the survey
Summary
Cervical cancer, which is associated with persistent infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV), is currently the third leading cause of women cancer death in the world, causing an estimated. Like all other cancers attributable to infection, cervical cancer has a greater incidence in low-income nations due to limitations in access to prevention and screening methods, among other factors [2,3]. The 2017 Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES, acronym in Spanish) showed that
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