the Cervical cancer is often thought of as a disease that primarily affects young women. Because of this, many women over 65 are no longer targeted for screening. However, the incidence rates of cervical cancer only decrease at age 85 in women without a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus), according to the results of a study published in the medical journal American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The researchers used data from the 2013 and 2015 National Health Survey (SNIS) and looked at the use of screening tests and cervical cancer rates among women aged 65 and over. They found that cervical cancer incidence rates increase with age up to age 70 and do not begin to decline until age 85.
Cervical cancer affects women of all ages
They established that the proportion of women not recently screened increases with age. While only 12% of 40-year-old women had no recent screening history, this number increased gradually for women in their 50s and 60s. Nearly 850,000 women aged 61 to 65 had not consulted for a smear over the past five years.
“Excluding those who have undergone removal of the uterus, we find that the risk of suffering from cancer of the cervix is higher in women aged over 65, the risk being even greater in black women. failure to perform a smearon a regular basis during the years before the cut-off age (65 years) contributes to the increase in cases of invasive cervical cancer and deaths related to this type of cancer”, according to Dr White, lead author of the study.
Cervical cancer can affect women of all ages. This new study underscores the importance of regular screening for older women who are at high risk or who lack evidence of adequate screening to prevent death from Cervical cancer. In the future, with increasing life expectancy and high rates of cervical cancer after age 65, these women should continue routine cervical cancer screening.
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