Pap tests performed more consistently with national recommendations: CDC
Image/CDC- Amanda Mills
Women are getting Pap test screened more in line with national recommendations according to two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports released Friday.
The current recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and American Cancer Society recommended that women, beginning at age 21, should start Pap test screening every three years, and that women should not be screened annually.
In addition, they say that screening is unnecessary for most women who have had a total hysterectomy (removal of the uterus and uterine cervix) for non-cancerous reasons, or for women aged 65 years and older with several years of normal test results.
In the two studies referenced (see below), researchers for both studies analyzed Pap test survey data from CDC’s Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System during 2000 through 2010. What they found was that Pap test screening has become more consistent with current cervical cancer screening recommendations as demonstrated below:
- The percentage of women aged 18-21 years who reported never being screened increased from 23.6 percent in 2000 to 47.5 percent in 2010. Screening is not recommended for women under the age of 21.
- In 2010, recent Pap testing (within three years) dropped among women aged 30 years and older without a hysterectomy, primarily due to declines among women aged 65 years and older (from 73.5 percent in 2000 to 64.5 percent).
- For women aged 30 years and older who had a hysterectomy, Pap testing declined from 73.3 percent in 2000 to 58.7 percent in 2010.
However, the researchers data also reveals that some trends are contrary to the national recommendations:
- The percentage of women aged 22-30 years who had not been screened increased from 6.5 percent in 2000 to 9.0 percent in 2010.
- Women aged 30-64 years who did not have health insurance and had not had a hysterectomy were less likely to have received a Pap test within the previous three years — from 74.4 percent in 2000 to 68.7 percent in 2010.
Meg Watson, M.P.H., an epidemiologist with CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control said, “As we monitor Pap test use among U.S. women, we can make sure that women are being screened in accordance with guidelines, to best maximize the benefits of screening and minimize the harms.”
Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women Aged 18–30 Years — United States, 2000–2010
