HealthDay News — Nonadherence to cervical cancer screening in the United States increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in PLOS Global Public Health. Mariah Malak Bilalaga, MD, from the MedStar Health Georgetown University Internal Medicine Residency Program in Baltimore, and colleagues compared human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination knowledge and nonadherence rates to cervical cancer screening in a nationally representative sample of American women before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers found that the prevalence of nonadherence in 2019 was 19.2% and increased by 6.6% in 2022. Both greater nonadherence rates and not hearing about the HPV vaccine were significantly associated with being Black and having lower education. After the COVID-19 pandemic, nonadherence to cervical cancer screening increased, especially among underrepresented communities, including Black adults and those with lower education.