Two recent studies have uncovered disparities in cervical cancer screening and vaccination rates, highlighting the uneven uptake of prevention strategies across the U.S.
In one study, published Oct. 16 in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, both based in Houston, used the Epic Cosmos database to evaluate cervical cancer screening rates among patients ages 21 to 64 between 2019 and 2024.
A separate study, which will be presented Oct. 24 at the IDWeek 2026 conference in Washington, D.C., analyzed HPV vaccination rates at 31 pediatric practices in Colorado and California between 2021 and 2026.
Here are eight notes from the studies:
- According to the JAMA Network Open study, cervical cancer screening rates in the U.S. rose across all racial and ethnic groups, age groups and regions from 2019 to 2024, though growth was uneven.
- By 2024, Hispanic patients had the highest screening rate of any racial or ethnic group and the largest screening rate increase, rising to 15.5% from 9.9% in 2019.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander patients had the lowest rate, at 12.4%, while non-Hispanic white patients saw the smallest increase, from 11% to 13.9%. - The Midwest had the highest screening rate of any region in 2024, at 16.2%, while the South had the lowest, at 12.3%.
- Patients ages 30 to 49 had the highest screening rate in 2024, at 15.3%, while patients ages 21 to 29 saw the largest increase, rising to 14.1% from 5.3% in 2019.
Patients ages 50 to 64 had both the lowest rate and the smallest increase, rising from 10.1% to 12%. - In a separate study, researchers from Aurora-based University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine found that children were more likely to be fully vaccinated against HPV if physicians offered vaccination at an earlier age, according to an Oct. 21 report from CIDRAP.
- By age 13, 62% of children offered the HPV vaccine at ages 9 or 10 had completed the two-dose series, compared with 45% of those offered the vaccine at ages 11 or 12.
- More than 77% of children who were offered the vaccine earlier had received at least one dose by age 13, compared with 67% of those who were offered it later.
- Children who were offered the vaccine earlier completed the entire vaccine series at a median age of 12.2, while those who were offered the vaccine later completed the series at a median age of 13.3.
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