[Evaluation on the visual inspection with Lugol's iodine in cervical cancer screening program].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate visual inspection with Lugol's iodine (VILI) in cervical cancer screening program and to provide evidence for designing a cervical cancer screening algorithm in high risk areas of existing low-resource settings to reduce the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer.


METHODS
Women in Yangcheng county, Shanxi province were screened with VILI, colposcopy, liquid-based cytology test and human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA test. The efficacy of different screening tests was compared by Youden's index based on the pathology as the gold standard.


RESULTS
In the population being screened, the mean age was 40.80 +/- 10.75 years old. Based on pathological findings, 4.35% (32/735) of the subjects had >or= CIN (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) II. The sensitivity and specificity for the VILI test (>or= positive) were 53.13 and 82.19, while 56.25 and 79.09 were for colposcopy (>or= low grade dysplasia) respectively. Comparing by the Youden's indexs, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) between VILI and colposcopy. However, statistical significant difference (P < 0.05) was found between VILI and liquid-based cytology test and HPV DNA test. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) found between the experienced doctors and the newly-trained doctors working in the field station.


CONCLUSIONS
With low sensitivity when using microscope but low cost of equipments, VILI can be one of the primary screening tests in China's rural area with low-resource settings if the screening frequency is to be increased.
Li
Ni
N
Department of Epidemiology, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, China.
Ma
Cong-ping
CP
Sun
Li-xin
LX
Zhang
Yong-zhen
YZ
Shao
Shu-li
SL
Xing
Ju-xia
JX
Bao
Yan-ping
YP
Huang
Rui-de
RD
He
Li-ji
LJ
Qiao
You-lin
YL
D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007454:Iodides; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012423:Rural Health; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
D007454:Iodides; C010389:Lugol's solution