Current cervical neoplasia screening practices of obstetrician/gynecologists in the US.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine cervical cancer screening practices of obstetrician/gynecologists in the US after recent revised guidelines.


METHODS
Questionnaires were mailed to 355 randomly selected US obstetrician/gynecologists. Questions were structured as clinical vignettes.


RESULTS
Questionnaires were returned by 60% (213/355) of recipients; 185 were eligible. Seventy-four percent would begin screening virginal girls at age 18. Sixty percent would continue annual screening in a 35-year-old woman with 3 or more normal tests. Frequent screening is common in women after total hysterectomy for symptomatic fibroids and no history of dysplasia, and in 70-year-old women with a 30-year history of previous normal tests. Most (82%) use liquid-based cytology; 78% of female respondents would prefer it for themselves. Most (64%) would not adopt triennial Pap/HPV DNA screening, although 58% of women would choose it for themselves.


CONCLUSIONS
Most US obstetrician/gynecologists screen low-risk women often and indefinitely, despite national guidelines designed to minimize screening harms resulting from overtesting.
Saint
Mona
M
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, USA.
Gildengorin
Ginny
G
Sawaya
George F
GF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014626:Vaginal Smears