In Brief

Extract

Many Women Who Lack Cervix Being Screened for Cervical Cancer

A new study estimates that nearly half of all women who have undergone a hysterectomy, including removal of their cervix, are being screened unnecessarily for cervical cancer.

In 1996, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advised that screening women who have had a hysterectomy for benign disease is unnecessary. To evaluate whether the task force's recommendation had an effect on screening practices, researchers looked at the answers from 187,670 women surveyed as part of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System between 1992 and 2002 who reported having a hysterectomy.

According to the survey, nearly 70% of these women reported having a Pap smear in the past 3 years both in 1992, before the task force's recommendation, and in 2002, 6 years after the recommendation. After accounting for hysterectomies that occurred after screening and those that may have spared the cervix or were performed for cervical neoplasia, the authors estimated that 10 million women, or nearly half of women who have had a hysterectomy, are being screened unnecessarily for cervical cancer.