TY - JOUR TI - Participation in the nationwide cervical cancer screening programme in Denmark during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study AU - Olesen, Tina Bech AU - Jensen, Henry AU - Møller, Henrik AU - Jensen, Jens Winther AU - Waldstrøm, Marianne AU - Andersen, Berit A2 - Malagón, Talía A2 - Harper, Diane M A2 - Leinonen, Maarit VL - 12 PY - 2023 DA - 2023/01/20 SP - e81522 C1 - eLife 2023;12:e81522 DO - 10.7554/eLife.81522 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81522 AB - Background:. In contrast to most of the world, the cervical cancer screening programme continued in Denmark throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the cervical cancer screening participation during the pandemic in Denmark. Methods:. We included all women aged 23–64 y old invited to participate in cervical cancer screening from 2015 to 2021 as registered in the Cervical Cancer Screening Database combined with population-wide registries. Using a generalised linear model, we estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% CIs of cervical cancer screening participation within 90, 180, and 365 d since invitation during the pandemic in comparison with the previous years adjusting for age, year, and month of invitation. Results:. Altogether, 2,220,000 invited women (in 1,466,353 individuals) were included in the study. Before the pandemic, 36% of invited women participated in screening within 90 d, 54% participated within 180 d, and 65% participated within 365 d. At the start of the pandemic, participation in cervical cancer screening within 90 d was lower (pre-lockdown PR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.56–0.59 and first lockdown PR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.75–0.77) compared with the previous years. A reduction in participation within 180 d was also seen during pre-lockdown (PR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.88–0.90) and first lockdown (PR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.91–0.93). Allowing for 365 d to participation, only a slight reduction (3%) in participation was seen with slightly lower participation in some groups (immigrants, low education, and low income). Conclusions:. The overall participation in cervical cancer screening was reduced during the early phase of the pandemic. However, the decline almost diminished with longer follow-up time. Funding:. The study was funded by the Danish Cancer Society Scientific Committee (grant number R321-A17417) and the Danish regions. KW - cervical cancer screening KW - COVID-19 pandemic KW - epidemiology JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -