Inequalities in cancer screening participation between adults with and without severe mental illness: results from a cross-sectional analysis of primary care data on English Screening Programmes

BackgroundPeople with severe mental illness (SMI) are 2.5 times more likely to die prematurely from cancer in England. Lower participation in screening may be a contributing factor.MethodsClinical Practice Research Datalink data for 1.71 million, 1.34 million and 2.50 million adults were assessed (using multivariate logistic regression) for possible associations between SMI and participation in bowel, breast and cervical screening, respectively.ResultsScreening participation was lower among adults with SMI, than without, for bowel (42.11% vs. 58.89%), breast (48.33% vs. 60.44%) and cervical screening (64.15% vs. 69.72%; all p < 0.001). Participation was lowest in those with schizophrenia (bowel, breast, cervical: 33.50%, 42.02%, 54.88%), then other psychoses (41.97%, 45.57%, 61.98%), then bipolar disorder (49.94%, 54.35%, 69.69%; all p-values < 0.001, except cervical screening in bipolar disorder; p-value > 0.05). Participation was lowest among people with SMI who live in the most deprived quintile of areas (bowel, breast, cervical: 36.17%, 40.23%, 61.47%), or are of a Black ethnicity (34.68%, 38.68%, 64.80%). Higher levels of deprivation and diversity, associated with SMI, did not explain the lower participation in screening.ConclusionsIn England, participation in cancer screening is low among people with SMI. Support should be targeted to ethnically diverse and socioeconomically deprived areas, where SMI prevalence is greatest.

Automated summary

People with severe mental illness in England have lower participation rates in cancer screening, which may contribute to their premature deaths. A study of over 1.7 million adults found that those with mental illness had lower participation rates in bowel, breast, and cervical screening.