title: Improvement in the routine screening performance of cytotechnologists over time: a study using rapid prescreening.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Documenting the performance of gynecologic screening in actual practice settings is difficult to achieve. In the current study, the screening performance of 11 individual cytotechnologists as well as that of the overall laboratory over 2 consecutive time periods was examined using the rapid prescreening (RPS) method.
  
  
  METHODS
  RPS was performed by all cytotechnologists in a single laboratory over 2 separate 8-month periods. The sensitivity of screening for individual and groups of cytotechnologists was examined. For purposes of comparison, cytotechnologists were divided into 2 groups: screeners with an overall routine sensitivity >or=95% and screeners with an overall sensitivity <95%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Atypical squamous cells (ASC) were used as a threshold, and routine screening sensitivity was found to vary from 68.3% to 96.8%. The overall sensitivity of the laboratory for RPS and routine screening was 43.6% and 88.4%, respectively. Over time, the overall laboratory sensitivity of routine screening improved from 85.3% to 91.3% (P = .01). During this same time frame, the sensitivity of the screeners with an overall sensitivity <95% improved from 79.3% to 91.2% (P < .001), whereas the sensitivity of screeners with an overall routine sensitivity >or=95% remained the same (96.1% to 96.4%; P = .6).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to improved overall performance of the laboratory by detecting and correcting errors, the results of the current study indicate that using RPS consistently over time might play a role leading to improved performance of cytotechnologists with an overall routine sensitivity <95% but not of cytotechnologists with an overall routine sensitivity >or=95%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, McGill University Health Center and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Fadi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brimo
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Renshaw
authors.forename: Majorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deschenes
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charbonneau
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Auger
mesh_terms: D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006176:Gynecology / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D010338:Pathology, Clinical; D011361:Professional Competence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000592:standards