Original researchThe effect of vaginal speculum lubrication on the rate of unsatisfactory cervical cytology diagnosis1 ☆,
Section snippets
Materials and methods
Approval for the study was granted by the institutional review board of the University of Washington. The study was conducted from July 1998 through December 1999 at five Public Health Seattle King County family planning clinics. The clinics were randomized by drawing names from an envelope labeled for assignment to either water-soluble gel lubricant or no lubricant except tap water for all speculum examinations for cervical cytology specimen collection during the intervention period. The sites
Results
Results of a review of MEDLINE during January 1998 back to 1966 using the key words “gel,” “speculum,” “lubrication,” “Pap smear,” “cervical cytology,” and “pelvic exam” revealed only one study12 assessing the effect of gel lubrication on Papanicolaou smear interpretation. A total of 8534 Papanicolaou smears were collected from all five clinics during the entire study period. From July 1, 1998 to December 31, 1998 and from July 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999, 5628 Papanicolaou smears were
Discussion
The Bethesda system requires that Papanicolaou preparations must include enough cells to cover 10% of a slide.13 If 75% of the epithelial cells are obscured by blood, inflammation, or artifact, the slide is considered unsatisfactory. Multiple variables have been studied and have been shown to affect the rate of unsatisfactory smears, including: presence of menses, hormonal contraceptive use,14 genital atrophy,15 use of the cytobrush,16 experience of the provider,17, 18, 19, 20 individual
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Cited by (0)
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LK and S-KL received funding support from the National Institutes of Health (grants CA34493 and AI38383).
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The authors thank the Public Health Seattle King County Family Planning Program for its invaluable assistance.