Is it Ramps, Recommendations, or Something Else? Disability and Access to Pap Smears Among U.S. Women

Julia A. Rivera Drew, Brown University
Susan E. Short, Brown University

Ever-sexually active women are at risk of cervical cancer, one of the most common female reproductive cancers. Although nearly 20% of adult women in the U.S. report a disability, and disability has been shown to affect health care access, the relationship between disability and receipt of a Pap smear remains little explored. Using nationally representative data from the 2000 and 2005 NHIS we investigate the relationship between disability and cervical cancer screening for 20,907 women between 21 and 64 years of age. With logistic regression analyses we examine receipt of a Pap smear and receipt of a recommendation for a Pap smear. Disability reduces the likelihood of Pap smear receipt in the past year, net of other factors. Women with disabilities were just as likely, if not more likely, to receive a Pap smear recommendation. However, conditional on recommendation receipt, they were less likely to receive a Pap smear.