Screening for cervical cancer by general practitioners in Ghent, Belgium

A feasibility study on the introduction of systematic screening for cervical cancer (CC) by General Practitioners (GPs) in two sectors of Ghent is described. The aim was to verify if CC screening by the GPs improved the participation rate. All of the GPs of the two sectors (N = 22) were offered both theoretical and practical training in taking Pap smears. The study lasted for 1 year. Results were as follows: The total population covered was 30,000, of whom 7,000 were women at risk between ages 30 and 65 years. Total number of the smears was 444 (participation rate, 6%). The distribution of Pap smears during the year shows that the numbers diminished during the summer and rose during autumn. Anatomopathological results were as follows: class I, 44; class II, 389; class III, 6; class IV, 0; class V, 2; and unknown, 3. As for the participation rate considered for each GP, we obtained attendance rate as high as 21% for the five best screening GPs. This result shows that, in the situation of primary health care in Belgium, this type of screening cannot yield higher attendance rates than traditional screening. Nevertheless, the good results of some GPs indicate that screening for CC is possible in primary health care in specific situations, e.g., with highly motivated GPs.