A comparative investigation of cervical cytology in Central Australian full-blooded aboriginal women

The results of cytological screening of a group of full-blooded Aborigines are compared with the results of a similar study of women attending a teaching hospital cytology clinic. Abnormal appearances were found in the smears of four of the 430 Aborigines and 73 of the 1,069 women attending the clinic. The actual incidence of unsuspected dysplastic change was 0.23% for cervical dysplasia among the Aborigines and 0.75% for dysplasia and 0.84% for carcinoma-in-situ in the metropolitan group. Comment is made concerning the difference in appearance of the cervix in the two groups.