Women failing to attend smear tests

[guardianfree]

Women generally but young women in particular - 1 in 3 not attending.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jos-cervical-cancer-trust-charity-smear-tests-terminal-illness-health-wellbeing-hospitals-a8171011.html

I know they're unpleasant (and often feel humiliating) but what can we do to reassure women that they can be life savers?

I recently read an article about prostate cancer screening- and it said it's not for everyone, some men might wish to opt out. Men aren't routinely offered prostate cancer screening are they? If they are my husband and 3 sons have missed it.

perhaps take yourself off to a hospital with terminal cervical/breast cancer patients, perhaps look at the faces of these women who are dying and also look at the sad, petrified faces of their children....ffs!!!

That is a really insensitive thing to say. There was a woman on a smear test thread a few months ago who had terminal cervical cancer despite having regular smear tests and never missing one.

Smear tests detect abnormal cells which could turn cancerous. my daughter in laws niece wouldnt go because of embarrassment, goodness knows why she had 3 children, she died aged 27, and left 3 young children motherless
Cant believe anyone would say they are not neccessary

Walking, women don't need your fear mongering. It's none of your business what other women do with their bodies. Maybe YOU should spend some time speaking to women who have premature births and painful procedures because of unnecessary treatment ffs.

Out of interest do you harass men into going for screening tests?

Nope, hurts like all hell if you're floppy and have a big cup, too. Oh no, she lied to me. I am always surprised that people talk so much about the pain of smears and not about mammograms. I really find the mammogran painful and thought it must be just me, but there are two of us then.

I've decided not to have smear tests and have never had one. It's my choice, not a 'failure to attend'. I'm relatively low risk and would find the procedure very traumatic.

I completely understand why other women would choose to have them done, but the narrative around this bothers me. It's my body and my risk to take.

Out of interest do you harass men into going for screening tests? Do men get offered any? As I said above my husband wasn't offered any, well not until the bowel testing and that is for men and women, he didn't get offered any other screening.

Hey walkingdead, have you ever met any women who've lost babies due to premature birth? What do you reckon their faces are like?

My mum has said that mammograms are v painful as well.

She's the only person I know whose had one so I assumed that they do indeed hurt like hell.

My sympathies to everyone who has had a painful or poorly performed smear test. . However, there are women who have never had a test, and so have no previous experience who are also not attending smears, and I would like to understand the reasons for those individual women. The lipstick campaign is IMHO poor. Let's patronise these silly girls instead of trying to understand why they don't attend.

Two other points if I may: I believe the PSA blood test for prostate cancer is preferred by men who are not keen on the alternative. A physical examination of their rectum. Funny that.

Secondly, under the GP contract, the income of the practice is higher if they achieve the target for cervical screening - I forget the exact figure, but it's around 90%. People who "refuse" screening may be excluded from the calculation. This is why a) some practices aggressively chase women who don't (in their eyes) comply and b) women who decline are recorded as having refused.

The worst example I ever came across was a practice who were chasing a nun to come in and have a smear. Complete thinking and empathy bypass.

Our GP practice has a dedicated sexual health nurse, she's ace! She deals with all contraception, smears, and any thing else related.
She works closely with a female GP and they run an evening clinic once a week for women's health.

Many women have built up a relationship with her in a sense, she is friendly, quick and manages to make any examinations not embarrassing.

I think if someone like her was at every practice and ran walk-in clinics it would get a lot more smears done.

Maybe all Drs practices are different, my son was offered a prostate test at a well man check up,which he had
I read only yesterday that prostate check are on the cards to be offered routinely

I've never had one because I'm low risk enough that I don't think the almost certainty that I'd find the procedure hideous (various reasons I dont wish to go into) is worth it. Especially factoring in the risk of false positives and unnecessary treatment, and the potential impact of that eg preteen birth increase.

My decision might differ if it were a more accurate test.

Last time I was in hospital (about a year ago) there were posters all over the place about prostate screening - however, my 56 year old DH has never been offered one.

Walking RTFT then tell me how my 'face looked' after months of systematic rape. Since you seem to be the arbiter of all women, tell me how my mothers' 'face looked' when I told her years later.
T

Yes I'm sure the NHS and NICE are simply wasting their time on smear tests and mammogram because that really makes sense doesnt it??.? 😂 my mum's breast cancer was detected by mammogram 20 years ago...20 years of life she wouldn't have had if she didn't go. Yes they are painful (not a patch on childbirth though), uncomfortable, embarrassing and the efficacy maybe questionable, but unless any of you have medical backgrounds or are scientific researchers then maybe you ought to be more careful about what you are saying? Campaign for better tests yes but not going for smears is incredibly stupid.

Having watched the BBC news report on this I wonder if the survey carried out is really minimising and rather underplaying what some
women said by calling it 'embarrassment' in someway rather than reflecting a more serious previous experiences of poor treatment in the past by HCP which have left them feeling humiliated or not listened to due to a past trauma of some description.

So your answer to women not attending, @Walkingdead11, is to harangue and berate women. To call them stupid and wish cancer on them? Really? Don't you want to engage with why women don't attend?

Thanks for this thread. I was very irritated this morning by the reporting that women aren't having smears because they are embarrassed.
I'm sure some are but I suspect the majority don't have smears because they are inconvenient to arrange and bloody unpleasant.
If women are embarrassed, maybe we should do something to tackle that rather than shaming them? For example talk about vaginas more. Stop marketing things like Vagisan for "smells". Stop even ring sanitary towels.
When men start having a speculum up the arse for a prostate exam every 3 years they can have an opinion.

Scenting not even ring grr

=AssassinatedBeauty

What a fucking ridiculous thing to say?? I do not wish cancer on any one, have seen it up close far to often......which is why I'm arguing for screening.

I'm due to have a smear test but am currently pregnant so have been told to wait until afterwards, thankgod. I've only had one done, it was absolutely horrible, despite having children I've never given birth so the idea of having my cervix opened up terrified me. The speculum was too big and the nurse could only use water to lubricate, which was not very effective. She struggled to get a sample and it took ages. My results came back that I had abnormal cells and I had to have a biopsy, I have terrible anxiety and I was convinced I was going to die. The biopsy was just as bad as the smear, and I had alot of bleeding and pain for weeks afterward. The results of the biopsy came in the post and weren't clear at all, I had to phone the clinic and get them to explain to me what the letter said. I was fine, the cells weren't cancerous but they didn't say wether I needed more regular smears or anything and I was left with the worry that maybe they had missed something. My partner is on at me to book an appointment as soon as my baby is born but I feel sick whenever I think about it.

Campaign for better tests yes but not going for smears is incredibly stupid.

I disagree. Regardless, I'd much rather be thought stupid than go through an experience that I know would be humiliating and very traumatic for me. You're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine, to say what I think and to make the medical decisions that are best for me as an individual. Even if you think they're stupid.

Why are you repeatedly stating that you wish they could see people with cancer then? When you don't have any idea whether they have or they haven't anyway?! (Hint, I have).

It's a horrific thing to try to bully women into having a procedure they don't want.