Women Who Don’t Get HPV Vaccine May Also Not Get PAP Tests

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ann Goding Sauer
Epidemiologist, American Cancer Society, Inc.
Atlanta, GA 30303

MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study?

Response: Among US women, a positive association between Pap test uptake and HPV vaccination has been shown, though potential variation of the association by race/ethnicity had not been explored previously. The prevalence of some HPV types varies across different racial/ethnic groups so it is important to explore the association between Pap test uptake and HPV vaccination in detail.

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings?

Response: Pap test uptake was significantly lower among those who had not initiated HPV vaccination (81.0%) compared to women who had initiated vaccination (90.5%) (adjusted prevalence ratio = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.90–0.96). This result was seen across most of the sociodemographic factors examined, though not statistically significant for non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, those with lower levels of education, or those with higher levels of income.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Response: Among young women, uptake of both recommended cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination should to be increased.

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Data are not yet available to assess whether women who received HPV vaccination as young girls will have similar cervical cancer screening behavior when they reach the recommended age; future research should assess Pap test uptake among those females who were adolescents when routine HPV vaccination was first recommended.

Citation:

Differential uptake of recent Papanicolaou testing by HPV vaccination status among young women in the United States, 2008–2013

Differential uptake of recent Papanicolaou testing by HPV vaccination status among young women in the United States, 2008–2013

Sauer, Ann Goding et al.

Cancer Epidemiology
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2015.05.002

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, Ann Goding Sauer Epidemiologist, American Cancer Society, Inc., & Atlanta, GA 30303 (2015). Women Who Don’t Get HPV Vaccine May Also Not Get PAP Tests 

Last Updated on June 18, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

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