Falling short of Pap test guidelines

This article examines the associations between women's characteristics and getting or not getting a Pap test.

The data are from the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS) conducted by Statistics Canada.

Multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine the odds of women not complying with Pap test guidelines, that is, of never having had a Pap test, and among women who had had one, of not having done so in the last three years.

One in four women aged 18 to 69 had either never had a Pap test or had not had one in the three years before the NPHS. Notably, older women--who are at the greatest risk for cervical cancer--are less compliant with screening guidelines than younger women. Other characteristics of women with high odds of never having had a Pap test are: being single, being a resident of Quebec, having immigrated to Canada, having less than a secondary school education, not being in the highest income group and having had no sex partners in the previous year.