Knowledge of, and beliefs about, access to screening facilities and cervical cancer screening behaviors among low-income women in New Jersey

Racial/ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes have been well documented. Access to Pap testing may account for some of the variation in the racial and socioeconomic differences in cervical cancer outcomes. Literature exploring perceived access to care as it relates to women of color and low-income women is lacking. The goal of the study was to evaluate and characterize the relationship between what respondents believe about access to free/low-cost screening facilities and screening behaviors among low-income women in New Jersey. We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate belief about access to affordable screening on cancer screening behaviors using data from a cross-sectional study of low-income women in New Jersey (n = 430). Having had a Pap test in the past 3 years was inversely associated with age (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.92–0.97) and was positively associated with having had insurance in the previous 2 years (OR 32.48. 95% CI 1.04–5.91), higher perceived risk of cervical cancer (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.29–5.66), and knowing where to go to get a check-up that includes a cancer test (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.11–3.49). These results suggest that insurance status continues to be a predictor of screening behavior but also that perceived risk awareness of where to go to get cancer screenings in general may influence the likelihood of utilizing screening, which can be important in developing targeted prevention strategies.