Assessment of follow-up for low-grade cytological abnormalities in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, 2000-2005.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the management of women in the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) before and after the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) guidelines for management of abnormal cytology were published in 2002. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined the follow-up for 22,342 women with LSIL during 2 periods 2000-2002 and 2003-2005. RESULTS: The percentage of providers who followed the recommended guidelines with colposcopy for an LSIL Pap test result increased by 9% from the pre-ASCCP to the post-ASCCP period. An increase was seen in every age and racial/ethnic group. Younger women (<30 years) and white women were more likely than comparison groups to be followed by colposcopy rather than a repeat Pap test. CONCLUSIONS: The increase in percentage of women having colposcopy in 2003, 1 year after the new guidelines were published, suggests a change in provider practices consistent with those guidelines.