18 Jun 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
Cancer Epidemiology
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.canep.2015.05.002
[wysija_form id=”3″]
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