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Published: 31 October 2024

New research reveals how different age groups in Ireland view cervical screening

By Dr Mairead O’Connor, Research Officer, National Screening Service

Our recent online survey of 808 women aged 25 to 65 reveals how views on cervical screening vary by age. Understanding views and knowledge of women eligible for cervical screening is important to improve coverage.

What the survey found

Half of survey respondents were aged 25 to 44, 22% were aged 45 to 54, and 28% aged 55 to 65.

Older women view cervical screening as ‘very important’: Women aged 55 to 65 were more likely than younger women to believe regular cervical screening is important, including after menopause.

  • 82% of women aged 55 to 65 said it is very important to go for regular cervical screening, compared to 78% of women aged 45 to 54, and 73% of women aged 25 to 44.
  • When asked about attending their next cervical screening, 81% of women aged 55 to 65 said they were ‘very likely’ to attend, compared to 73% of women aged 45 to 54, and 78% of women aged 25 to 44.
  • 60% of women aged 55 to 65 said it is very important to continue to go for regular cervical screening after menopause, compared to 48% of women aged 45 to 54, and 41% of women aged 25 to 44.

Younger women have more knowledge gaps: The survey found that knowledge about cervical screening was lower among younger women, especially those aged 25 to 44. Younger women had misconceptions, such as thinking they don’t need cervical screening if they’ve had the HPV vaccine or are not sexually active.

  • 24% of younger women aged 25 to 44 and 25% of those aged 45 to 54 mistakenly believe they don’t need cervical screening if they’ve had the HPV vaccine, compared to 20% of those 55-65.
  • 27% of younger women aged 25 to 44 disagreed that cervical screening is for women with no symptoms of cervical cancer, compared to 21% of women aged 45 to 54 and aged 55 to 65.
  • Almost a quarter (24%) of younger women aged 25 to 44 mistakenly believe that they don’t need to go for cervical screening if they’re not sexually active, compared to 14% of women aged 45 to 54 and 12% of women aged 55 to 65.
  • 26% of women aged 55 to 65 incorrectly thought cervical screening detects cancer in other areas, like the womb, while only 24% of women aged 45 to 54 and 22% of those aged 25 to 44 believed this.

What this tells us

While attendance at CervicalCheck is lower in women aged 50 and older, knowledge and awareness about cervical screening was higher in this age group. We need to maintain the high uptake in younger women alongside improving their cervical screening knowledge, including continuing to address common misconceptions.


  • A poster presentation of this research was presented by Dr Mairead O’Connor, Research Officer, National Screening Service at the 2024 CervicalCheck conference in October 2024.
  • The research was carried out in February 2024 by Core Research on behalf of the National Screening Service.