MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Fangjian Guo, MD, PhD Assistant Professor BIRCWH Scholar Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Women’s Health The University of Texas Medical Branch MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: National guidelines consistently recommend against cervical cancer screening among women with a history of a total hysterectomy for a benign condition. These women are unlikely to develop high-grade cervical lesions. The goal of our study was to assess whether these guidelines are being followed. We examined the use of Pap testing among US adult women with a history of total hysterectomy for a benign condition and the roles of health care providers and patients in the initiation of Pap test use. We found that in 2013, 32% of women who have had a hysterectomy received an unnecessary recommendation for cervical cancer screening from a health care provider in the past year; 22.1% of women with hysterectomy received unnecessary Pap testing. Although the majority of Pap tests were performed at a clinician’s recommendation, approximately one fourth were initiated by patients without clinician recommendations. According to standard 2010 US Census population figures, about 4.9 million unnecessary Pap tests are performed annually among women who have had a total hysterectomy for a benign condition. At approximately $30 per test, $150 million in direct medical costs could be saved annually if screening guidelines were followed for these women. (more…)