Scottish Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening programme statistics
Year ending 31 March 2024

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an annual update on the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening programme in Scotland. This programme aims to reduce the number of deaths caused by abdominal aneurysms in men aged 65 and over.

Main points

Data for men reaching age 66 in the year ending 31 March 2024 (the eligible population):

• 85% of eligible men were invited for screening before their 66th birthday (the key performance indicator (KPI) timescale for the invitation), compared with 74.1% in the previous year, and 97.4% pre-pandemic (year ending 31 March 2020).
• Similarly, 77.3% of all men eligible for screening were tested before age 66 and 3 months (the KPI timescale for coverage), compared with 70.7% to March 2023.

Infographic of AAA screening data for Scotland for year ending 31 March 2024. Outline of 4 male figures, with 3.2 of them shaded in to represent that just over 3 in 4 men eligible for routine abdominal aortic aneurysm screening were tested (77.3% coverage).

Close

• Coverage of screening was lower in more deprived areas (most deprived 71.8%; least deprived 78.7% when using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation). This gap in coverage (6.9 percentage points) was similar to that seen for the previous year (6.1 at 31 March 2023); both are lower when compared with 31 March 2022 (16.5). All areas saw increased coverage compared with the year ending 31 March 2023.

Scans and vascular referrals in the year ending 31 March 2024:

• The total number of initial and surveillance scans completed in the year ending 31 March 2024 was 39,048, maintaining a year-on-year increase since the pandemic (37,684 and 33,422 in the two previous years and higher than the 29,582 scans completed pre-pandemic by 31 March 2020).
• A large aneurysm was detected in 139 men (initial and surveillance scans), resulting in a referral to vascular specialist services. The majority of men were seen by a vascular specialist within two weeks (89.9%, compared with 90.3% in the previous year and 96.6% pre-pandemic).
• 18 of 94 men (19.1%) deemed appropriate for AAA repair surgery were operated on within eight weeks. This has been an improvement on the two previous years (16.0% and 13.3%). However, this was at 50.6% pre-pandemic, showing that the service is still in recovery.

Background

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a swelling of the aorta, the main artery in the body, as it passes through the abdomen. The condition is most common in men aged 65 and over and usually there are no symptoms. Large aneurysms are uncommon but can be very serious. As the wall of the aorta stretches, it becomes weaker, and it can rupture (burst). If the aneurysm ruptures, this leads to life-threatening internal bleeding and, in 8 out of 10 cases, death.

Men aged 65 are sent an invitation to attend screening. Men over 65 years of age, who have not been screened previously can self-refer into the screening programme. The test is a simple ultrasound scan of the abdomen. Most men have a normal result and are discharged from the screening programme. Men with detected small or medium aneurysms are invited for regular surveillance scans to monitor the size of the aneurysm. Men with large aneurysms are at high risk of aneurysm rupture and are referred to vascular specialist services for assessment and to discuss treatment options.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 27 January 2026.