Officials Say Pap Smears Needed Less Often
Preparing for your annual pap smear? Well it might not be necessary.
A new recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says women should get pap smear exams once every three years to detect cervical cancer, as opposed to the previous recommendation of annual testing.
“The more tests that you do, the more likely you are to be faced with a false positive test,” Dr. Michael LeFevre, one of the task force leaders, told the Associated Press. “We see an emerging consensus that annual pap tests are not required for us to see the benefits that we have seen.”
Cervical cancer cases have drastically declined in the United States in the past 35 years with about 15 cases per 100,000 women in 1975 to about 8 cases per 100,000 in 2008.
The new guideline also recommends against screening women under age 21 and over age 65, because there are few cases of cervical cancer in those age groups. The previous advice to start screening three years after the age of first sexual intercourse has also changed.
Women who have had their cervix and uterus removed should not be tested but checked to make sure their hysterectomy was complete.