In the present study, we compared the performance of a ThinPrep cytological method
with the conventional Papanicolaou test for diagnosis of cytopathological changes,
with regard to unsatisfactory results achieved at the Central Public Health
Laboratory of the State of Pernambuco. A population-based, cross-sectional study was
performed with women aged 18 to 65 years, who spontaneously sought gynecological
services in Public Health Units in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil, between
April and November 2011. All patients in the study were given a standardized
questionnaire on sociodemographics, sexual characteristics, reproductive practices,
and habits. A total of 525 patients were assessed by the two methods (11.05% were
under the age of 25 years, 30.86% were single, 4.4% had had more than 5 sexual
partners, 44% were not using contraception, 38.85% were users of alcohol, 24.38% were
smokers, 3.24% had consumed drugs previously, 42.01% had gynecological complaints,
and 12.19% had an early history of sexually transmitted diseases). The two methods
showed poor correlation (k=0.19; 95%CI=0.11–0.26; P<0.001). The
ThinPrep method reduced the rate of unsatisfactory results from 4.38% to 1.71%
(χ2=5.28; P=0.02), and the number of cytopathological changes diagnosed
increased from 2.47% to 3.04%. This study confirmed that adopting the ThinPrep method
for diagnosis of cervical cytological samples was an improvement over the
conventional method. Furthermore, this method may reduce possible losses from
cytological resampling and reduce obstacles to patient follow-up, improving the
quality of the public health system in the State of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil.