[Cervical cancer screening: Is active recruitment worth the effort?]

To determine the percentage of women who have had a Pap smear in the last 5 years, and the place where it was carried out. To detect cytological abnormalities and precursors of cervical cancer in un-screened or inadequately screened women and the prevalence of HPV-positive determinations.

Cross sectional study.

Natahoyo Health Centre, Gijón (Spain).

Women aged 40-50 years living in the area and assigned to the Health Centre.

The information was collected from databases, telephone and home surveys. There was active recruitment of unscreened women or inadequately screened in Primary Care as well as offering to perform cytology and HPV determination.

Of the 1420 women aged 40 to 50 years, 1236 (87%) had cytology in the last 5 years, and 184 women (13%) had no screening or it was inadequate. Of these 184 women, 108 (58.7%) agreed to have cytology and HPV test performed. No high-grade cervical dysplasia was diagnosed. The prevalence of HPV-positive was 8.3%.

In our population there is a high coverage of opportunistic screening for cervical cancer. The active recruitment of women who were not in the screening program was not useful.