Pap Smear Abnormalities In Adolescents And Young Women

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a period in the life of a woman characterized by significant physical and psychological changes. In various places in the world it is also the period in which sexual activity usually begins. Sexual activity has been occurring increasingly earlier in adolescents. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of Pap smear abnormalities in adolescents and young women (MJA) compared to adult women (MA). Methods: Cross-sectional study of cervical uterine cytology obtained from women in Santo André (SP, Brazil) between January 2009 and December 2011, comparing the cytological results between MJA (age: 14-24 years) and MA (age: 25 years or over). Results: 92,118 exams evaluated; 76,752 in the MA group and 15,366 in the MJA group. Of the total, 89,723 were normal and 2,395 abnormal (1,278 [53.4%] corresponded to atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance [ASCUS], 900 [37.6%] to low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [LSIL] and 217 [9.1%] to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion [HSIL]). There were 510 (3.3%) abnormal tests in the MJA group and 1,885 (2.5%) in the MA group, of which 217 (42.5%) and 1061 (56.3%), respectively, were classified as ASCUS, 280 (54.9%) and 620 (32.9%), respectively, as LSIL, and 13 (2.5%) and 204 (10.8%), respectively, as HSIL. Conclusion: The most frequent abnormality in the MJA group was LSIL and in the MA group was ASCUS. HSIL was 4 times more frequent in adult women in comparison to young women and adolescents.