Majority of Women Not Getting Follow-Up Care
Reported August 20, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new Canadian study finds a big gap in cancer screening among women. Less than half of Ontario women with abnormal Pap tests received recommended and potentially life-saving follow-up care.
“Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer, yet in Ontario more than one million women have not been screened, and a disproportionate number of these are women living in lower-income communities,” Dr. Arlene Bierman, a physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and principal investigator of the Project for an Ontario Women’s Health Evidence-Based Report (POWER) was quoted as saying. “We need to make special efforts to reach women who are screened, but do not receive the necessary follow-up and may eventually fall through the cracks,” said Bierman.
According to the study, less than 50 percent of women who had a Pap test that showed a low-grade abnormality had the appropriate follow-up care within the recommended time frame, including either a repeat test or other examination. Doctors say this is usually the group at greatest risk of eventually developing cervical cancer.
Women from lower-income neighborhoods had consistently lower rates of screening for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer than women in higher-income communities. Sixty-one percent of lo-income women were screened compared to 75 percent of high-income women.
“We need to continue to work to reach under-screened populations. This includes focused approaches to improve awareness of screening and access to screening and follow-up services,” Dr. George Pasut, vice president, Prevention and Screening, Cancer Care Ontario was quoted as saying.
Source: St. Michael’s Hospital, August 2009