Access to cervical screening for women with lower limb mobility impairments: an integrative literature review
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Access to cervical screening for women with lower limb mobility impairments: an integrative literature review

Katrina Verso Registered nurse, The Northern Ireland Cancer Centre, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Helen Kerr Senior lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Why you should read this article:
  • To understand that women with mobility impairments have lower rates of uptake of cervical screening and a higher incidence of cervical cancer than those without mobility impairments

  • To recognise the challenges of accessing cervical screening attendance for women with mobility impairments

  • To acknowledge the important role of the nurse in improving uptake of cervical screening for women with mobility impairments

Cervical cancer, the fourth most frequently diagnosed malignancy worldwide, is largely preventable through cervical screening and human papillomavirus vaccination programmes. Despite this, there is a higher incidence of cervical cancer in women with lower limb mobility impairments, and lower rates of cervical screening uptake, compared with those without such impairments. This article reports the findings of an integrative literature review that explored the challenges experienced by women with lower limb mobility impairments in accessing cervical screening services and identified strategies used to overcome these challenges. Challenges included environmental barriers, time constraints, inadequate education of healthcare professionals and lack of awareness of the need for cervical screening for this patient population. Nurses, as the healthcare professionals who most often carry out cervical screening, must take the lead in addressing these challenges. The word ‘women’ is used in this article to reflect the cohorts in the studies reviewed and the terminology used in the literature search.

Cancer Nursing Practice. 23, 4, 27-33. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2023.e1842

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

@kerr03

Correspondence

h.kerr@qub.ac.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Verso K, Kerr H (2023) Access to cervical screening for women with lower limb mobility impairments: an integrative literature review. Cancer Nursing Practice. doi: 10.7748/cnp.2023.e1842

Published online: 23 August 2023

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more