Screening Research Priorities

The Research and Innovation Group works closely with stakeholders, including Screening Programmes, to identify research priorities. We review these priorities in January of each year and publish them here.

Research Priorities

• Optimising uptake in all existing screening programmes
• Improving informed choice in all existing screening programmes
• Minimising inequalities in all existing screening programmes
• Minimising the harms of screening
• Improving the sensitivity and specificity of tests in existing screening programmes
• Exploring the use of AI and other new technologies in screening
• Stratified screening
• Targeted screening
• Attitudes to screening in remote and rural settings
• Implementation costs in boards

Diabetic Eye Screening

Gathering more information about the factors related to non-attendance at screening, including understanding how the following factors are related:

• Comorbidities
• Frequency of insulin use
• Glycaemic control
• Blood pressure
• Smoking status
• Dyslipidaemia
• Time since last test
• Country of birth
• Education level
• Learning disabilities
• Mental ill health

AAA Screening

Research into the outcomes of NAAASP patients undergoing AAA surgery (open or EVAR), eg re-intervention rate for EVAR, functional outcomes for both groups.

Pregnancy & Newborn Screening

• Inequalities in uptake of first trimester screening- qualitative research to explore underlying factors such as staff training and communication, organisational cultures, and the acceptability of screening for different groups
• Comparing experiences of “informed consent” between different population groups, including those who may face additional barriers e.g. those with learning disability, hearing impairment, whose first language is not English.
• Ways to improve the explanation of risk and truly informed consent
• The impact of opt out HIV testing in pregnancy (link with English IDPS work)
• Interventions to improve newborn bloodspot quality

Bowel Screening Programme

• How to increase colonoscopy uptake in under-served groups, in particular ethnic minority populations
• Effect of colonoscopy delays on stage of diagnosis
• Geographical variation in FIT positivity rates
• Model the impact of moving from an unlabelled test kit to a labelled test kit across the whole pathway through diagnostic test, adenoma detection and cancer detection
• Understand the impact of resect and discard policies on any cancers identified, or impact on pathways

Cervical Screening Programme

• Inequalities in cervical screening uptake
• Management of older women (>50 years) - alternatives to cytology triage to better assess risk of underlying high grade CIN in women with type 3 TAZ
• Do individuals who move from non-routine to routine recall continue to engage in screening?
• Feasibility study – is there an alternative way to provide the cervical screening programme?
• How to engage the under/never screened and HPV unvaccinated

Breast Screening Programme

• Inequalities in breast screening – how do we engage the never/rarely engaged?
• Inequalities in breast screening – how do we make it easier for people with a learning disability to engage in breast screening?
• AI in breast screening mammography
• Contrast enhanced mammography

Get in touch

Contact us to find out more about our annual research priorities.