Out of reach? Correlates of cervical cancer underscreening in women with varying levels of healthcare interactions in a United States integrated delivery system

One in five U.S. women with health insurance are underscreened for cervical cancer. We sought to identify whether underscreening correlates differed among women with different levels of health care interaction. Among women age 30–64 years who were members of an integrated U.S. health system, we used 2014–2015 electronic health record data to identify underscreened cases (≥3.4 years since last Papanicolaou (Pap) test, n=3352) and screening-adherent controls (<3.4 years since last Pap test, n=45,359) and extracted data on potential underscreening correlates (demographics, health history, and healthcare utilization). We calculated the odds of underscreening in the total population and by subgroups defined by healthcare visits and online health portal usage in the prior 12 months. Underscreening was associated with older age (50–64 vs. 30–39; odds ratio (OR)=1.6; 95%CI=1.4–1.8), current tobacco use (vs. never use; OR=2.1; 95%CI=1.8–2.2), higher BMI (≥35 kg/m² vs <25 kg/m², OR=2.0; 95%CI=1.8–2.3), screening non-adherence for colorectal cancer (OR=5.1; 95%CI=4.6–5.7) and breast cancer (OR=8.1, 95%CI=7.2–9.0), and having no recent visit with their primary care provider (PCP) nor recent health portal use (vs. recent PCP visit and portal use; OR=8.4, 95%CI=7.6–9.4). Underscreening correlates were similar between the total study population and within all healthcare interaction groups. Interaction with the healthcare system is associated with lower odds of underscreening, but sociodemographic and health status correlates are similar regardless of primary care visits or online portal use. These data support the need for additional interventions to reach insured women who remain underscreened for cervical cancer.