Translating Research Into Practice
New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines: Was the Annual Pap Too Much of a Good Thing?
Margaret M. Fields, MSN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP®
From MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Correspondence to: Margaret M. Fields, MSN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP®, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Neuro Oncology, 1400 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 431, Houston, TX 77030. E-mail: mmfields@mdanderson.org
J Adv Pract Oncol 2013;4:59-64 |
DOI: 10.6004/jadpro.2013.4.1.7 |
© 2013 Harborside Press®
ABSTRACT
With the advent of the Papanicolaou (Pap) test in 1945, mortality from cervical carcinoma declined more than 70%. An annual Pap smear was the recommended guideline for many years. But new guidelines recently released by the USPSTF recommend far less screening for various subgroups of women. In this first part of this two-part series, read about the implications of the new guidelines. The second part presents a primer for APs to critically evaluate guidelines.
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