Feasibility, reliability and women's views of a risk scoring system for cervical neoplasia in primary care.
BACKGROUND
A risk assessment scale for cervical neoplasia has been developed which gives a risk score based on four factors: level of education, current smoking status, number of years of oral contraceptive use and number of sexual partners ever.


OBJECTIVE
A pilot study was undertaken to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a self-report data form, used to assess risk of cervical neoplasia, and the test-retest reliability of women's responses to the questions.


METHODS
A sample of women attending one general practice were asked to complete a self-report data form which included some highly personal questions, and a questionnaire assessing their level of difficulty and discomfort completing the form. Women were sent a second self-report data form four weeks later in order to assess test-retest reliability.


RESULTS
There was a high level of cooperation with the study (94% initial participation rate), little evidence of discomfort with the questions posed, and high test-retest reliability.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this pilot study have positive implications for a large prospective study evaluating the predictive power of the risk scale in relation to the result of the cervical smear test.
Wilkinson
C E
CE
Department of General Practice, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff.
Peters
T J
TJ
Harvey
I M
IM
Stott
N C
NC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005194:Family Practice; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology