Current cervical neoplasia screening practices of obstetrician/gynecologists in the US.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine cervical cancer screening practices of obstetrician/gynecologists in the US after recent revised guidelines.

STUDY DESIGN

Questionnaires were mailed to 355 randomly selected US obstetrician/gynecologists. Questions were structured as clinical vignettes.

RESULTS

Questionnaires were returned by 60% (213/355) of recipients; 185 were eligible. Seventy-four percent would begin screening virginal girls at age 18. Sixty percent would continue annual screening in a 35-year-old woman with 3 or more normal tests. Frequent screening is common in women after total hysterectomy for symptomatic fibroids and no history of dysplasia, and in 70-year-old women with a 30-year history of previous normal tests. Most (82%) use liquid-based cytology; 78% of female respondents would prefer it for themselves. Most (64%) would not adopt triennial Pap/HPV DNA screening, although 58% of women would choose it for themselves.

CONCLUSION

Most US obstetrician/gynecologists screen low-risk women often and indefinitely, despite national guidelines designed to minimize screening harms resulting from overtesting.