Cervical cancer screening in women with HIV: an audit of clinical care
Objectives:
Women with HIV (WHV) have an increased prevalence of cervical cancer and are recommended three yearly cervical cancer screening. This is compared with five yearly screening their counterparts. We aimed to describe cervical cancer screening practices for WHV receiving HIV care at a large tertiary hospital.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective audit on all women who were in HIV care up until January 2023 at the Alfred Hospital, a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, specializing in HIV care. Cervical cancer screening results for Medicare eligible people are recorded in The National Cervical Cancer Screening Register (NCCSR) and these were extracted for women in care. Screening was categorized as up-to-date and consistent with national screening guidelines or overdue.
Results:
We identified 156 WHV in care of which 115 were included in the analysis. Of these, 57 (49.6%) had cervical screening on time and consistent with national guidelines, including 49 (86%) who had a normal last result and 8 (14%) with an abnormal last result. Half the women, 58 (50.4%) were overdue screening. Of those overdue, 52 (89.7%) were more than 6 months and 45 (76.3%) were more than 12 months overdue. Among the women overdue, 47 (81%) had a normal last result and 7 (12.1%) an abnormal last result.
Conclusion:
We found that over half of the women included were overdue for their cervical screening test, with the vast majority being overdue by more than twelve months. Improved access to cervical cancer screening is needed in this population to achieve national guidelines targets.