Cervical Cancer Screening Procedures Research Articles

Delivering breast and cervical cancer screening services to underserved women: Part I. Literature review and telephone survey

Although breast and cervical cancer screening procedures have been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality, many women are not using these services. These women are likely to be older, of ethnic or racial minority, of low socioeconomic status, less educated, underinsured, or living in rural locations. Many breast and cervical cancer screening programs employ strategies to increase use. In order to identify and assess those strategies, we reviewed the literature and completed a telephone survey, altogether assessing 61 programs. Our study identified several strategies and found that not all strategies work for all women. Management systems directed to both patients and providers consistently are effective for most underserved women. Community-based outreach and integration of preventive services at the primary health care (PHC) site are effective strategies for both African American and Hispanic women. Use of mass media has been successful when targeted toward Hispanic women, but not when targeted toward African American women. Mobile units and integration of preventive services at PHC sites are effective strategies for elderly women. In many cases, a combination of strategies may be effective. Programs should employ strategies best suited to their target populations.

1183 The value of cervicography in cervical cancer screening

It has been suggested that cervicography is suitable for use as a screening procedure for cervical cancer. Studies have shown it to be considerably more sensitive than cytology. Asymptomatic population of 1700 women was involved in a screening programme. They were investigated by cytology, colposcopy and cervicography. Sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive value of the three methods were determinated. CIN was revealed in 114 (6.7%) and invasive cancer in 12 (0.72%) of patients. Sensitivity of cervicography was 0.89, specificity 0.92, positive predictive value 0.58 and negative predictive value 0.96. Compared with other methods, cervicography was more effective than cytology and as effective as Colposcopy in screening for cervical cancer.