Women with mental illness more than twice at risk of developing cervical cancer: Study

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) Women with mental illness, neuropsychiatric disability, or substance abuse run more than twice the risk of developing cervical cancer, as they are less likely to go for gynaecological smear tests, according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health.

The researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, stressed the importance of proactively approaching these women as a preventative measure against cervical cancer. The observational study included over four million women born between 1940 and 1995.

In the women, the researchers compared women diagnosed by a specialist with mental illness, neuropsychiatric disability, or substance abuse with women without such diagnoses.