Health Care Workers' Beliefs and Practices Around Pap Screening for Adolescents Seeking Contraception

Adolescents often avoid seeing a health care provider to obtain contraception because they do not want to undergo a pelvic exam and Pap screening for fear of stress, pain or embarrassment. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to study health care workers, attitudes and beliefs about Pap screening and to educate them on the latest evidence-based guidelines, with the hope of ultimately decreasing unnecessary screening. Results showed a modest reduction in the frequency of Pap screening; however, many adolescents continued to undergo unnecessary Pap screening. The reluctance of health care workers to change their practice demonstrates the need for better methods of translating evidence-based guidelines into practice.