An audit of colposcopy appointment processes in women with abnormal cervical cytology

This study was conducted to audit the waiting times and default rates of colposcopy using the standard requirements of the National Health Service Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) 2004 guidelines.

The records of 291 women with abnormal cervical smears referred to the colposcopy clinic between January and December 2008 at Chiang Mai University Hospital, Thailand, were reviewed.

The proportion of women with abnormal cervical smears of any grade receiving colposcopy appointments within 8 weeks of referral (96.9%) achieved the minimum requirements (≥ 90%). However, the waiting times for women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, glandular cell abnormality and invasive lesion smears were longer than recommended by NHSCSP guidelines. The default rate of 15.8% in this study was slightly higher than recommended by the guidelines (< 15%). Having no health insurance, being known to have HIV infection and waiting times longer than 4 weeks were independent predictors of default from an initial colposcopy appointment.

The waiting times for colposcopy among women with high-grade smear abnormality and the default rate failed to meet standard requirements. Designing an effective protocol for colposcopy appointment processes is warranted.