In Finland the organized cervical cancer screening program invites women for routine screening up to the age of 60. Some municipalities also invite 65-year-olds. The aim is to study whether screening at the age of 65 reduces cervical cancer mortality.
Screening records for women aged 55 and above were collected from the mass screening registry in 1991—2014 (612 622 women born in 1926—1946). Cervical cancer deaths (N=265) were linked from the cancer registry for women aged 65 and above.
Of all women, 383 411 were invited of whom 85% attended to screening at least once during the follow-up. Of all invited women, 77 479 (13%) received an invitation to routine screening at the age of 65. The risk of death due to cervical cancer was reduced for women who were screened at the age of 65 (RR = 0.57 (95% CI = 0.32−0.95)).
Mortality was reduced for women screened at the age of 65. However, a more detailed examination of the effect of previous screening history is still needed, e.g. taking into account participation to screening at younger ages and previously detected abnormalities. The results will help to assess until what age the whole target population should be invited to screening.