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Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study

Shona Murdoch, Bethany Donaghy, Aimee Grant Orcid Logo, Kayleigh Sheen, David John Moore Orcid Logo

Autism

Swansea University Author: Aimee Grant Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/13623613261439937

Abstract

Cervical screening can be lifesaving, yet attendance rates are lower than recommended within the general population and even lower within the autistic population. There is currently no published research systematically exploring autistic people’s cervical screening experiences. This research aimed t...

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Published in: Autism
ISSN: 1362-3613 1461-7005
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71831
first_indexed 2026-04-30T05:14:44Z
last_indexed 2026-05-15T05:41:44Z
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spelling 2026-05-14T10:47:35.6205212 v2 71831 2026-04-30 Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2 0000-0001-7205-5869 Aimee Grant Aimee Grant true false 2026-04-30 HSOC Cervical screening can be lifesaving, yet attendance rates are lower than recommended within the general population and even lower within the autistic population. There is currently no published research systematically exploring autistic people’s cervical screening experiences. This research aimed to explore the experience of cervical (“smear”) screening for autistic people in the United Kingdom. Autistic people (N = 97) completed an online mixed-methods questionnaire about their cervical screening experiences. Questions considered experiences of pain, sensory and communication issues, knowledge of cervical cancer, attitudes towards screening, and experience of sexual assault. Findings suggest that an autistic person’s intention to attend their screening is important to understand their actual attendance at the screening. Quantitatively, pain, sensory and communication issues, or knowledge of cervical cancer were not associated with screening attendance. However, qualitatively, they were. Two themes emerged: “Communication disconnect across the care journey” and” Echoes of the past: the lasting impact of previous care encounters” were discussed as barriers to screening engagement. This research highlights the need to improve healthcare communication and other accessibility needs for autistic people when attending cervical screening and for further development of appropriate measurement tools. More research is needed to further inform methods of improving cervical screening services for autistic people. Journal Article Autism 0 SAGE Publications 1362-3613 1461-7005 autism; cancer screening; cervical screening; mixed methods; theory of planned behaviour 24 4 2026 2026-04-24 10.1177/13623613261439937 COLLEGE NANME Health and Social Care School COLLEGE CODE HSOC Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee None 2026-05-14T10:47:35.6205212 2026-04-30T06:11:02.8390943 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Health and Social Care - Public Health Shona Murdoch 1 Bethany Donaghy 2 Aimee Grant 0000-0001-7205-5869 3 Kayleigh Sheen 4 David John Moore 0000-0002-5228-3124 5 71831__36640__341af9d199d246799e1fae2ddbe2689b.pdf Murdoch et al 2026 Cervical screening.pdf 2026-04-30T06:23:52.4014053 Output 230940 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
spellingShingle Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
Aimee Grant
title_short Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_full Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_fullStr Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_full_unstemmed Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_sort Exploring Autistic People’s Experiences of and Attitudes Towards Cervical Screening: A Mixed-Methods Study
author_id_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2
author_id_fullname_str_mv 6a1ce3bc54c692c804e858b70d2e4bd2_***_Aimee Grant
author Aimee Grant
author2 Shona Murdoch
Bethany Donaghy
Aimee Grant
Kayleigh Sheen
David John Moore
format Journal article
container_title Autism
container_volume 0
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1362-3613
1461-7005
doi_str_mv 10.1177/13623613261439937
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Health and Social Care - Public Health{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Health and Social Care - Public Health
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Cervical screening can be lifesaving, yet attendance rates are lower than recommended within the general population and even lower within the autistic population. There is currently no published research systematically exploring autistic people’s cervical screening experiences. This research aimed to explore the experience of cervical (“smear”) screening for autistic people in the United Kingdom. Autistic people (N = 97) completed an online mixed-methods questionnaire about their cervical screening experiences. Questions considered experiences of pain, sensory and communication issues, knowledge of cervical cancer, attitudes towards screening, and experience of sexual assault. Findings suggest that an autistic person’s intention to attend their screening is important to understand their actual attendance at the screening. Quantitatively, pain, sensory and communication issues, or knowledge of cervical cancer were not associated with screening attendance. However, qualitatively, they were. Two themes emerged: “Communication disconnect across the care journey” and” Echoes of the past: the lasting impact of previous care encounters” were discussed as barriers to screening engagement. This research highlights the need to improve healthcare communication and other accessibility needs for autistic people when attending cervical screening and for further development of appropriate measurement tools. More research is needed to further inform methods of improving cervical screening services for autistic people.
published_date 2026-04-24T12:57:57Z
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