Women's knowledge and experience of atypical Pap results in a high risk community.
We sought to describe the knowledge of, understanding of, and follow-up after atypical cervical cytology among low-income, urban women. Of 554 women who had an ASCUS or atypical Pap result in 1996,215 (39%) completed a telephone survey. Many (19%) had poor follow-up. Thirty percent of women denied ever being told of abnormal cytology; Spanish-speakers were more likely to be unaware (43.2% vs. 22.7%, p < .01) of abnormal cytology. Cancer fear was quite high, as were misconceptions regarding cause. Many women were unsatisfied with the information they received regarding their cytology.
McKee
M Diane
MD
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Caban
Arlene
A
Burton
William
W
Mulvihill
Michael
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000208:ethnology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D014626:Vaginal Smears