Pap Smear Screening Results for Turkish Pregnant Women

Abstract

Objective: Cervix cancer is one of the most common gynecological cancer types that cause cancer deaths among women. This study was planned based on a descriptive method in order to evaluate the results of PAP smear screening during pregnancy for prevention of cancer. Materials and Methods: The research involved 110 pregnant women registered at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Polyclinic of Bagcilar Training and Research Hospital and 86 non-pregnant women of the same ages as a control group. As criteria for acceptance were conditions such as not being in coitus within the last 48 hours, not using vaginal ovule, and not performing vaginal lavage. A survey consisting of 33 questions was conducted and the results were processed using Bethesda. Results: The average ages were 27.1±4.70 for the pregnant women and 28.8±4.24 for the control group. 60.7% of cases had previously heard of a PAP smear test, 49% were aware of why PAP smear tests were conducted, 26.4% of pregnant participants and 27.3% of non-pregnant participants had previously undergone a smear test. In this study, smear results of all cases were 95.4% sufficient. 18.2% of pregnant cases had an infection, 54.5% had reactive cellular change, and 0.9% had atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US). 16.3% of non-pregnant cases had an infection, 58.1% had reactive cellular change, 3.5% had atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), and 1.2% had low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LGSIL). Conclusion: PAP smear test is a good opportunity to identify pre-invasive lesions in early phases of pregnancy.

Screening for cervical cancer during pregnancy

“…3,7 The mean age of marriage was 23.4 years which is similar to a study done at Turkey by AytenDinc in 2008-09, suggesting role of early sexual life in the pathogenesis of cervical neoplasia. 3 The Pap smear should be performed at the first prenatal visit regardless of the duration of pregnancy to establish the presence or absence of SIL, STD, and BV, all of which represent a risk to the fetus and the mother. This initial smear will establish a baseline diagnosis and can be followed up accurately throughout pregnancy by repeated Pap smears.…”

“…2 Pregnancy creates an important opportunity to screen the cervix for neoplastic and infectious diseases, and also to spread awareness. 3 Studies report that 10%-70% of dysplasia cases diagnosed during pregnancy regress and sometimes even disappear postpartum, while persistence in the severity of cervical neoplasia is reported in 25%-47% of cases and progression in 3%-30% of cases.…”

Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Women Over 20 Years Old on Cervix Cancer in Istanbul, Turkey

“…Of 93.7% women heard about cervical cancer and 68.0% about the Pap smear test. In the literature, while cervical cancer hearing rates ranged between 62.0% and 88.8% (Khoo et al, 2011;Tran et al, 2011;Raychaudhuri andMandal, 2012, Getahun et al, 2013) pap smear hearing rates ranged from 21.9% to 87.4% (Coskun et al, 2013;Demirtas and Acikgoz, 2013;Dinc, 2013;Karabulutlu, 2013;Sahin et al, 2014). As a result of our research on cervical cancer and Pap smear screening test, we found a high incidence of hearing, which is forming the upper limit of the literature.…”

“…While studies conducted in developed countries, pap smear screening rates over 70% (Gonzalez et al, 2012;Shekhar et al, 2013;Suh et al, 2013), in developing countries, this ratio was below 70% (Imam et al, 2008;Gan and Dahlui, 2013;Wongwatcharanukul et al, 2014). In Turkey studies, ratios ranged between 9.4%-68.5% (Uysal and Birsel, 2009;Erbil et al, 2011;Demirhindi et al, 2012;Bekar et al, 2013;Coskun et al, 2013;Demirtas and Acikgoz, 2013;Dinc, 2013;Karabulutlu, 2013;Karadag et al, 2014;Sahin et al, 2014). Results of our study in Turkey are similar to the work done in developing countries.…”

Pap smear in antepartum women: an opportunity to screen and create awareness

“…This is in contrast to study results conducted at Coimbatore by Manikkam, where 80% of women and Turkish studies showed that 60.7% women were aware of Pap smear. 3,11 This difference may be due to difference in population characteristics under study.…”