Little is known about experiences and barriers for trans and non-binary (TGNB) people eligible for cervical screening in Aotearoa New Zealand.
To identify uptake, barriers and reasons for delaying cervical cancer screening among TGNB people in Aotearoa.
The 2018 Counting Ourselves data on TGNB people assigned female at birth aged 20-69 years who had ever had sex, were analysed to report on experiences of those who were eligible for cervical screening (n = 318). Participants answered questions about whether they had taken part in cervical screening and reasons behind any delays in receiving the test.
Trans men were more likely than non-binary participants to report that they did not require cervical screening or were unsure if they needed it. For those who had delayed cervical screening, 30% did so due to feeling worried about how they would be treated as a trans or non-binary person and 35% due to another reason. Other reasons for delay related to general and gender-related discomfort, previous traumatic experiences, anxiety or fear of the test and pain. Material barriers to access included cost and lack of information.
The current cervical screening program in Aotearoa does not consider the needs of TGNB people, leading to delayed and reduced uptake of cervical screening. Health providers require education on the reasons TGNB people delay or avoid cervical screening in order to provide appropriate information and affirmative healthcare environments. The human papillomavirus self-swab may address some of the existing barriers.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 September 2026.
All research outputs
#9,434,821
of 34,453,422 outputs
Outputs from Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
#611
of 1,913 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#119,115
of 450,261 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
#6
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,453,422 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,913 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 67% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 450,261 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 73% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its contemporaries.
