Most Women Wary Of At-Home Cervical Cancer Tests, Researchers Find

TUESDAY, Feb. 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) — At-home cervical cancer screening is meant to be a revolution in preventive care, by providing an easy option for women who’d rather not be poked and prodded at a doctor’s office.

But most women aren’t buying it, at least for now, a new study says.

About 3 out of 5 women (61%) would prefer to keep seeing a medical professional at a clinic for their Pap smear, researchers reported Feb. 6 in JAMA Network Open.

Only 1 in 5 (20%) said they’d prefer to self-sample at home, the study found.

These results indicate that U.S. health groups need to do a better job promoting at-home cervical cancer screening, researchers said.

“Home-based self-sampling has the potential to remove many of the barriers women face when it comes to cervical cancer screening,” lead researcher Sanjay Shete said in a news release. He’s deputy division head of cancer prevention and population sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“By expanding screening options and pairing them with targeted education, we can empower more women to participate in screening in a way that fits their lives,” Shete said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first at-home self-sampling device for cervical cancer screening in May 2025, researchers said in background notes. 

A woman collects a sample in the privacy of her home, and then mails it in for lab analysis.

The move is intended to improve screening by making the process easier and more private for women, researchers said.

However, not many studies have assessed how many women actually want at-home cervical cancer screening, researchers noted.

For the new study, researchers analyzed data from a 2024 survey conducted by the National Institutes of Health, in which 2,300 women 21 to 65 were asked, “If you had choice, how would you prefer to do the cervical cancer screening test?”

Most women said they’d prefer having a health care practitioner do the test in their office, with fewer saying they’d like to have an at-home test. About 19% said they weren’t certain which they’d prefer.

Results showed that Black women were 55% less likely to prefer at-home screening compared to white women.

On the other hand, women who’d experienced prejudice or discrimination when getting medical care were nearly twice as likely to want at-home screening.

Overall, the most commonly reported reasons for preferring at-home screening were privacy (55%); time constraints (35%); and fear of embarrassment (33%), researchers said.

Medical organizations could help boost the popularity of at-home testing by incorporating it as an option in their guidelines for cervical cancer screening, researchers said.

“Major public health and medical organizations should consider updating their recommendations to include home-based self-sampling,” lead investigator Dr. Joël Fokom Domgue, a senior researcher of epidemiology at MD Anderson Cancer Center, said in a news release.

“This policy shift could play a critical role in reducing screening inequities and improving uptake among populations that have historically been underserved,” Domgue added.

More information

The National Cancer Institute has more on cervical cancer screening.

SOURCES: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, news release, Feb. 6, 2026; JAMA Network Open, Feb. 6, 2026