NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- American women who habitually have a pap smear taken annually will likely ignore recommendations to be tested only every two or three years, researchers said.
Researchers with the Veterans Administration Outcomes Group, Dartmouth Medical School and Norris Cotton Cancer Center examined the beliefs and attitudes of 360 women 40 years and older about reducing frequency and eventually stopping the test.
When questioned about their preferences, 75 percent said they preferred screening at least every year and more than two-thirds said they would continue annual pap smears even if their physician recommended otherwise. Habit and the perceived risk of cervical cancer drove women's opinions, researchers said.
Current recommendations say women older than 30 who have more three normal test results can wait two or three years to have another pap smear.
The study appears in the American Journal of Medicine.
