THURSDAY, September 18, 2025 (News) — A study published online on September 10 reveals that noncompliance with cervical cancer screening in the United States rose following the COVID-19 pandemic.PLOS Global Public Health.
Mariah Malak Bilalaga, M.D., affiliated with the MedStar Health Georgetown University Internal Medicine Residency Program in Baltimore, along with other researchers, examined the understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and the rates of noncompliance with cervical cancer screening among American women across a nationally representative sample both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 1,905 female participants aged 21 to 65 years who took part in the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey in 2019 and 2022.
The study revealed that the rate of nonadherence was 19.2 percent in 2019 and rose by 6.6 percent in 2022. The rise was more pronounced among Black women compared to White women (13.9 versus 5.6 percent). Regarding awareness of the HPV vaccine, 18.9 percent had not heard about it in 2019; this figure increased slightly by 2.8 percent in 2022. Both higher nonadherence levels and lack of awareness about the HPV vaccine were strongly linked to being Black and having less education. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, nonadherence to cervical cancer screening rose, particularly within underrepresented groups such as Black individuals and those with lower educational attainment.
“Additional research is required to understand the obstacles linked to higher nonadherence levels and to investigate specific strategies, including awareness campaigns, community engagement efforts, and actions aimed at enhancing access for marginalized groups, which could encourage fairer participation in screening and healthcare availability,” the authors state.
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