article information

International Journal of Cancer Management: Vol.5, issue 1; e80796
published online: March 31, 2012
article type: Research Article
received: August 19, 2011
accepted: October 20, 2011

Comparison of Pap Smear Quality With Anatomical Spatula Method and the Common Method (SpatulaCytobrush): A Single Blind Clinical Trial

authors:

avatar Marzieh Soleimani 1 , * , avatar Kh Abdali 1 , avatar M Khajehei 2 , avatar HR Tabatabaee 3 , avatar PV Komar 4 , avatar N Riaz Montazer 4

Dept. of Midwifery, Fatemeh College of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Dept. of Sexology, School of Public Health, Curtin University, Australia
ept. of Epidemiology, Health and Nutrition Faculty, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Medical Faculty, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

how to cite: Soleimani M , Abdali K, Khajehei M, Tabatabaee H, Komar P, et al. Comparison of Pap Smear Quality With Anatomical Spatula Method and the Common Method (SpatulaCytobrush): A Single Blind Clinical Trial. Int J Cancer Manag. 2012;5(1):e80796. 

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women in the world. Papanicolaou smear is known as a standard test for cervical cancer screening; however, the most important challenge is high rates of false negative results. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of smears obtained by anatomical spatula and spatula-cytobrush. The most important factor in false negative result is inappropriate tool of sampling.
Methods: One hundred married women participated in this single blind clinical trial. All participants were interviewed; two samples were obtained from every participant: one with spatula-cytobrush and another one with anatomical spatula. All slides were encoded and were assessed by two pathologists. Then, data were analyzed by means of kappa coefficient.
Results: Cell adequacy was 96.1 % in anatomical spatula method and 91.2 % in spatula-cytobrush method (p= 0.016). The rates for endocervical cells and metaplasia cells in anatomical spatula method were 70.6% and 24.5% respectively and these amounts were 69.6% and 24.5% respectively in the spatula-cytobrush method (p 0.05). Regarding infection and inflammatory reactions there was no statistically significant difference between two methods (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Based on our findings in this study, results of sampling with anatomical spatula method were more acceptable and better than those with spatulacytobrush sampling.

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