Correlation of cytotechnologists' parameters with their performance in rapid prescreening of papanicolaou smears.
BACKGROUND
Efficient quality control is essential to ensure high sensitivity of Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. For this purpose, rescreening of 10% random negative smears is increasingly felt to be ineffective. Rapid rescreening (RR) of all negative Pap smears is more practical and has received widespread acceptance, especially in Europe, although its sensitivity is difficult to monitor and its retrospective nature may influence the vigilance of the screeners. The method of rapid prescreening (RPS) overcomes these drawbacks because rapid review of Pap smears precedes full screening.


METHODS
All routine conventional Pap smears (n = 8364) over 2 months underwent RPS by 12 cytotechnologists, followed by full screening. Data were analyzed to determine correlation between the RPS sensitivity of individual cytotechnologists and both their sensitivity in full screening and their years of experience as cytotechnologists.


RESULTS
There was a striking variability in sensitivity (15.4%-72.7%) among the 12 screeners with an atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) threshold. There was no correlation between RPS sensitivity of individual cytotechnologists with either their sensitivity in full screening or their years of experience as cytotechnologists.


CONCLUSIONS
The skills required of a cytotechnologist for achieving a high sensitivity in RPS are apparently different from those of full screening and are independent of the sensitivity of the screeners at full screening or of the years of experience as cytotechnologists.
Djemli
Amina
A
Department of Pathology, McGill University Health Center and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Khetani
Karim
K
Case
Bruce W
BW
Auger
Manon
M
D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D015588:Observer Variation; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000379:methods*; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis*