Barriers to cervical cancer screening in Guatemala: a quantitative analysis using data from the Guatemala Demographic and Health Surveys

Anna Gottschlich (), Pamela Ochoa (), Alvaro Rivera-Andrade (), Christian S. Alvarez (), Carlos Mendoza Montano (), Claudia Camel () and Rafael Meza ()
Additional contact information
Anna Gottschlich: University of Michigan
Pamela Ochoa: PRA Health Sciences
Alvaro Rivera-Andrade: Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama-INCAP
Christian S. Alvarez: University of Michigan
Carlos Mendoza Montano: Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama-INCAP
Claudia Camel: Guatemala Ministry of Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS)
Rafael Meza: University of Michigan

International Journal of Public Health, 2020, vol. 65, issue 2, No 12, 217-226

Abstract: Abstract Objectives Examine the association between commonly reported barriers to health care, including discordant spoken languages between patients and providers, and reported previous cervical cancer screening. Methods Data from the nationally representative Guatemala National Maternal and Child Health Survey from the Demographic and Health Surveys Program were used to explore associations between barriers and screening rates nationwide and in high-risk populations, such as rural and indigenous communities. Negative binomial regressions were run accounting for survey sample weights to calculate prevalence ratios. Results 64.0%, 57.5% and 47.5% of women reported ever screening, in the overall, indigenous, and rural populations, respectively. Overall, never screened for cervical cancer was associated with the following health barriers: needing permission, cost, distance, not wanting to go alone, and primary language not spoken by health providers, even after adjustment for age, ethnicity, and literacy. Conclusions Offering screening programs alone is not enough to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Guatemala. Measures need to be taken to reduce barriers to health care, particularly in rural areas, where screening rates are lowest.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; Screening; Healthcare barriers; Indigenous communities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00038-019-01319-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:ijphth:v:65:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s00038-019-01319-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/00038

DOI: 10.1007/s00038-019-01319-9

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Thomas Kohlmann, Nino Künzli and Andrea Madarasova Geckova

More articles in International Journal of Public Health from Springer, Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().