The impact of the universal choice of self-collection on cervical screening participation in Australia's…

StudyPublic health· Aug 2026

The impact of the universal choice of self-collection on cervical screening participation in Australia's National Cervical Screening Program: A population-based interrupted time series analysis.

Nicola S Creagh, Claire Nightingale, Julia Ml Brotherton … Amalia Karahalios

Prevention & Screening in Primary CareStudyClinical practice

Universal self-collection access was associated with increased cervical screening rates.

The impact of the universal choice of self-collection on cervical screening participation in Australia's National Cervical Screening Program: A population-based interrupted time series analysis.

Nicola S Creagh … Amalia Karahalios

Public health · Aug 2026

Purpose

In July 2022, Australia's National Cervical Screening Program introduced vaginal self-collection for human papillomavirus testing as a screening option.

Methods

Interrupted time series analysis using segmented Poisson regression models estimated the slope change in monthly cervical screening rates per 100 women before (December 2017-June 2022) and after policy change (July 2022-June 2023).

n = 100 women

Results

monthly cervical screening rates increased after policy change

IRR by subgroup · 95% CI

More results

Self-collection screening per 100 women increased monthly after policy change (IRR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.16, 1.29), compared to clinician-collection (IRR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.12).

The use of self-collection after policy change was higher amongst regional/rural practices.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Universal access to self-collection resulted in modest increases in cervical screening, though direct attribution to the policy cannot be confirmed.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Ongoing implementation challenges may explain variation observed between metropolitan and regional/rural practices.

The impact of the universal choice of self-collection on cervical screening participation in Australia's National Cervical Screening Program: A population-based interrupted time series analysis.

The impact of the universal choice of self-collection on cervical screening participation in Australia's National Cervical Screening Program: A population-based interrupted time series analysis.

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