title: [Agreement between cytology, colposcopy and cervical histopathology].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to evaluate the agreement between conventional cytology using the Papanicolaou test, repeated at the time of colposcopy, with colposcopic and histopathological findings.
  
  
  METHODS
  the study was carried out at the central public health laboratory of the state of Pernambuco between January and July, 2008, involving 397 women referred for colposcopic evaluation following an abnormal cervical smear test. Cytology was repeated at the time of colposcopy using conventional method, with particular attention being paid to the presence of abnormal colposcopic findings. The nomenclature used for cytology was the 2001 Bethesda system terminology, while that used for histology was the World Health Organization 1994 classification. Cytology performed at the time of colposcopy was compared with colposcopy and with histopathology obtained by colposcopy-directed biopsy. The Kappa coefficient was used to evaluate the agreement between methods, as well as the χ2 test, with the level of significance set at 5%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  poor agreement was found between cytology performed at the time of colposcopy and colposcopic findings (K=0.33; 95%CI=0.21-0.45) and between colposcopy and histopathology (K=0.35; 95%CI=0.39-0.51). Cytology performed at the time of colposcopy compared with histopathology revealed a Kappa of 0.41 (95%CI=0.29-0.530), which was considered to reflect moderate agreement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  agreement was better between cytology and histopathology than between colposcopy and cytology or between colposcopy and histopathology.
authors.affiliation: Saúde Materno Infantil, Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira - IMIP, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Letícia Maria Correia
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: Alex Sandro Rolland
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Simone Oliveira
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Fittipaldi
authors.forename: Gisele de Melo
authors.initials: Gde M
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Melania Maria Ramos
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Amorim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D003127:Colposcopy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult