Mailing HPV test kits directly to patients increases cervical cancer screening rates

UW research finds that mailing HPV test kits directly to patients increases cervical cancer screening rates. Three years ago, the federal government set a series of targets to improve Americans' overall health. Among the dozens of goals laid out in the plan, called Healthy People 2030 , was a significant increase in the proportion of Americans who kept up to date with cervical cancer screening. That, in turn, would enable more people to catch cervical cancer early, when it's most treatable. New research from the University of Washington and the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) found that the simplest solution may also be the most effective: mailing test kits directly to patients' homes. In a study published Nov. 28 in the Journal of the American Medical Association , researchers report that mailing test kit s significantly increased cervical cancer screening rates, both in populations overdue for screening and those who had previously kept up to date.