Advanced pelvic organ prolapse and routine health screening

To evaluate whether patients with advanced pelvic-organ prolapse (POP) were less likely than controls to obtain screening Papanicolaou (Pap) test, mammography, and colonoscopy.

Records were reviewed from 7/2/2010 through 4/22/2011. We identified patients with advanced POP, defined as prolapse > or = 4 cm beyond the hymenal ring, and made age- and parity-matched controls from patients whose prolapse was <4 cm. Compliance for screening of cervical, breast and colon cancers was compared between the two groups.

Of 933 records, we identified 51 patients with advanced POP and 51 controls. Neither Pap test nor colonoscopy screening differed between the groups (McNemar chi2, P=1.00; McNemar chi2, P=1.00). Mammogram screening did not differ statistically; however, there was a trend towards neglecting screening in the advanced POP group (McNemar chi2, P=0.057).

Patients with POP > or = 4 cm beyond the hymenal ring were equally as likely to obtain routine health screening as age- and parity-matched controls whose POP measured <4 cm.