The quality of cervical cancer screening: a primary care perspective.
The bulk of cervical cancer screening is performed by primary care providers; mostly nurses and physicians. The literature regarding the quality of this screening is largely described from three perspectives; clinical, laboratory, and public health. This article describes the primary care perspective regarding issues of quality in cervical cancer screening and suggests areas for improvement. The authors discuss how effectiveness of the test, sampling methods, interpretation by the laboratory, and reporting results impact on the quality of cervical cancer screening. Other factors which influence the quality of screening such as access to care, recall intervals, communication with the patient, costs of testing, and organizational issues are also reviewed.
Curtis
P
P
Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599-7595, USA.
Mintzer
M
M
Resnick
J
J
Morrell
D
D
Hendrix
S
S
D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*