The aim of the study was to present social and other characteristics of non-attenders in an organized cervical screening programme. It was conducted a case-control study in a cohort. The cohort consists of women in the age group 23-60 years who were invited to the organized cervical screening programme in Aarhus county, Denmark, between 1.10.1990 and 1.4.1994, totalling 133,500 women. The case group included 694 "non-attenders" and the control group 1131 women who had had at least one smear performed during the previous 42 months. The results showed that non-attenders, compared to attenders, had less frequent contact to their general practitioner. The non-attender group did not have an over-representation of markers for special risk of cervical cancer.