Loss to follow-up of women with initial cervical cytology of ASC-US/LSIL in Tocantins, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Galvão, Jucimária Dantas
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Campos, Felipe, Russomano, Fábio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/15660
• topic: Mass Screening; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia; Women’s Health; Papanicolaou Test; Early diagnosis.; Tamizaje Masivo; Neoplasias del Cuello Uterino; Neoplasia intraepitelial cervical; Salud de la Mujer; Prueba de Papanicolaou; Diagnostico precoz.; Programas de Rastreamento; Neoplasias do Colo do Útero; Neoplasia Intraepitelial Cervical; Saúde da Mulher; Teste de Papanicolaou; Diagnóstico precoce.

Objective: The study aims to characterize loss to follow-up of women with initial cytological diagnosis of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, possibly non-neoplastic (ASC-US), or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), in Tocantins State, Brazil, from 2011 to 2013. Study Design: Cervical cytology data from the Information System on Uterine Cervical Cancer (SISCOLO) was used to identify women with initial diagnosis of ASC-US or LSIL in 2011. Nominal database record linkage was used to identify women with previous altered Pap smear results (who were excluded) and those who returned (versus failed to return) by the year 2013. Results: Record linkage identified 1,174 women with diagnoses of ASC-US (65.9%) or LSIL (34.1%) and without previous altered tests. According to the data, 55.9% and 53.5%, respectively, failed to undergo follow-up tests in the subsequent years. Conclusion: Failure to return for repeat cervical cytology suggests a missed opportunity for diagnosis and treatment of women with precursor lesions or cervical cancer not detected in the initial cytology, thus compromising the effectiveness of cervical cancer control in the State of Tocantins.