Beyond opportunistic Pap smears in general practice. Women's views of strategies to promote regular screening.
BACKGROUND
An opportunistic reminder for a Pap smear is effective and acceptable in general practice. Women's views of strategies to promote ongoing attendance for Pap smears were unknown at the time of this study.


OBJECTIVE
To determine women's perceptions of strategies to help them attend for their next Pap smear.


METHODS
Randomly selected male general practitioners in urban Sydney and 174 of their female patients.


RESULTS
Seventy-eight per cent response rate to a questionnaire sent after a consultation in which opportunistic screening was offered. A reminder letter from the GP was nominated as likely to help 'a lot' by at least 50 per cent of respondents. Free Pap smears and child-minding were nominated by at least 50 per cent of respondents as making 'no difference'.


CONCLUSIONS
This survey has explored women's perceptions of potential strategies to promote continuing Pap smear screening. Given the disappointing results when these strategies have been implemented in individual general practices, however, the authors recommend prospective controlled evaluation before widespread adoption.
Ward
J
J
School of Medical Education, University of New South Wales.
D'Este
C
C
Sanson-Fisher
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D017010:Reminder Systems; D014626:Vaginal Smears