Prevalence of clue cells suggestive for Gardnerella vaginalis in population-based cervical screening in the public versus private health care in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of clue cells suggestive for Gardnerella vaginalis in population-based cervical screening in the public (SUS) versus private (RP) health care utilization in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.


METHODS
A retrospective study on the results of 133,966 cytology examinations of patients from the Brazilian Public Health System-SUS (better socio-economic status-SES) and from the Private Network-RP (low SES) done by the Souza Anatomy Laboratory in Maringá, Brazil, from 2004 to 2007.


RESULTS
In patients using the SUS, the prevalence of clue cells was 6.75% (n = 3,573), higher (p < 0.05) than for RP users (3.53%, n = 2,813). The clue cells predominated in age range of the 20-49 years from the SUS and RP (p > 0.05). In both the populations, the prevalence and age range did not vary among the 4 years (p > 0.05) and the prevalence declines in age above 45 years (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of clue cells was low and stable in both populations in the 4 years, indicating equilibrium in terms of numbers of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in this localization. The results indicate that SES may influence the epidemiology of BV and that the prevalence declines expressively in older women.
Storti-Filho
A
A
Souza Laboratory of Pathology, Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
Souza
P C
PC
Souza
R J S
RJ
Pereira
M W
MW
Mello
I C J
IC
Svidizinski
T I E
TI
Lopes-Consolaro
Márcia Edilaine
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005260:Female; D006194:Gardnerella vaginalis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017149:Private Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017150:Public Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult