What Messaging Best Promotes a 20-year-old Women’s Intention to have Cervical Cancer Screening?

Background: Because they have not been HPV-vaccinated, the vast majority of women in Japan are defenseless against HPV-caused cervical cancer. Cervical cancer screening has become their only means for intervention early enough to save their uterus and often, their lives. Unfortunately, the cervical cancer screening rate in Japan has dropped recently to 10.2% for 20-25-year-olds. We need to recommend earlier, more frequent, and more effective screening for them. We have assessed several factors that could promote the intention of Japanese women toward having cervical cancer screening. Method: We conducted an online survey of 412 Japanese women. Half of the respondents were given an information sheet concerning cervical cancer, the remaining half wasn’t. After this educational intervention, we quizzed them about their knowledge concerning cervical cancer, about their and their family’s cervical cancer screening practices, about having talks with their family about cervical cancer, and their intentions for having cervical cancer screening. Among the 127 women who admitted having had a sexual relationship, we evaluated their intention toward having cervical cancer screening. We assessed several factors that were likely to influence their intention to have cervical cancer screening. Results: We determined that an education with an information sheet, whether or not they had ever talked with their family about cervical cancer, and whether members of their family had ever had cervical cancer screening, were associated with an effective impact on the women's positive intention to have cervical cancer screening. Knowing that cervical cancer is becoming more common among young women, that cervical cancer could influence their fertility, and that cervical cancer screening could prevent any lesions from advancing to become invasive cancer, 3 were also associated with an effective impact on the women's positive intention. Conclusion: Personal educational intervention, talking with their family about cervical cancer, and the general health consciousness of their family, were all associated with an effective impact on the women's positive intentions toward cervical cancer screening. It is likely that the messaging for the need for cervical cancer screening for 20-year-olds targeting their innate desire to preserve their fertility would most effectively resonate with these young women.