4.6 Article

Underscreening, overscreening, and guideline-adherent cervical cancer screening in a national cohort

Journal

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY
Volume 167, Issue 2, Pages 181-188

Publisher

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2022.09.012

Keywords

Cervical cancer screening; Guideline adherent screening; HPV testing; Pap testing; Co-testing; Guidelines Average risk; High risk

Funding

  1. Departmental SEED grant from Boston Medical Center Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Ask authors/readers for more resources

This study investigated rates of under- and overscreening for cervical cancer in a national cohort. The results showed that only 18.1% of women received guideline-adherent screening, and 25.4% were unscreened during the 6-year period. Younger women were more likely to be overscreened, while older women were more likely to be underscreened or unscreened. Additional strategies are needed to improve guideline-adherent care for cervical cancer screening.
Objective. To explore rates of under- and overscreening for cervical cancer among a national cohort. Methods. The MarketScan database, a national administrative database of employee-sponsored insurance, was queried for elements relevant to cervical cancer screening among women aged 21-65 with 6 years of continuous enrollment (2015-2019). Average-risk women were defined as those without high-risk medical conditions or abnormal screening histories, and without evidence of hysterectomy with removal of the cervix for benign indications. Average-risk women were considered adequately screened if they had Pap tests alone at 2.5-3.5 year intervals, or HPV tests or co-tests at 4.5-5.5 year intervals. Logistic regressions were used to predict the odds of receiving guideline-adherent screening, underscreening, and overscreening. Results. Among 1,872,809 eligible patients, 1,471,063 (78.5%) qualified for routine screening. Of these, only 18.1% received guideline-adherent screening, and 25.4% were unscreened during the 6-year period. Younger women (aged 21-39) were more likely to be overscreened [OR 1.46]. Older women (aged 50-64) were more likely to be underscreened or unscreened during the study period [OR 2.54]. Guideline-adherent screening was highest with HPV testing alone (80%) followed by co-testing (44%), and lowest with cytology alone (15%). A total of 329,062 women in this general population sample (18%) met high-risk criteria that required increased frequency of screening. Conclusions. High rates of both underscreening and overscreening indicate a need for additional strategies to improve guideline-adherent care. Clinical trial registration: N/A.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.6
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available