Increased incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in young women in the Mitte district, Berlin, Germany.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether the incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), in particular of high grade CIN, increased in Berlin during the period 1970-1989 and whether the ages of women with CIN had decreased.


METHODS
In the former German Democratic Republic, which had a highly centralized public health system, all gynecologic operations performed on women living in the Mitte district of Berlin were carried out during the period 1970-1989 (when the Berlin Wall fell) in the gynecologic clinic of the Charité Hospital.


RESULTS
The incidence of all CIN increased from year to year over the observation period: 0.04% (1970-1971), 0.10% (1980-1981), 0.39% (1988-1989). There was a particularly high increase in the incidence of high grade intraepithelial neoplasms (CIN 3): 0.016% (1970-1971), 0.056% (1980-1981), 0.25% (1988-1989). With a virtually unchanged age distribution for women in the Mitte district of Berlin, the median age of women with CIN 3 decreased significantly from 1970 to 1989, from 39.5 (1970) to 33 (1989) (P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
The increase in the incidence of CIN, especially of high grade CIN, as well as the reduction in age for onset of the disease, makes high participation in screening necessary, above all among young women.
Blohmer
J U
JU
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. jens-u.blohmer@charite.de
Schmalisch
G
G
Klette
I
I
Grineisen
Y
Y
Kohls
A
A
Guski
H
H
Lichtenegger
W
W
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001604:Berlin / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology