Abstract
Background: The cytological screening programme of Viterbo has completed the second round of invitations to the entire target population (age 25-64). From a public health perspective, it is important to know the Pap-test coverage rate and the use of opportunistic screening. The most commonly used study design is the survey, but the validity of self-reports and the assumptions made about non respondents are often questioned. Methods: From the target population, 940 women were sampled, and responded to a telephone interview about Pap-test utilisation. The answers were compared with the screening program registry; comparing the dates of Pap-tests reported by both sources. Sensitivity analyses were performed for coverage over a 36-month period, according to various assumptions regarding non respondents. Results: The response rate was 68%. The coverage over 36 months was 86.4% if we assume that non respondents had the same coverage as respondents, 66% if we assume they were not covered at all, and 74.6% if we adjust for screening compliance in the non respondents. The sensitivity and specificity of the question, "have you ever had a Pap test with the screening programme" were 84.5% and 82.2% respectively. The test dates reported in the interview tended to be more recent than those reported in the registry, but 68% were within 12 months of each other. Conclusion: Surveys are useful tools to understand the effectiveness of a screening programme and women's self-report was sufficiently reliable in our setting, but the coverage estimates were strongly influenced by the assumptions we made regarding non respondents.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 36 |
| Journal | BMC Health Services Research |
| Volume | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 17 2006 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nursing(all)
Cite this
Estimation of Pap-test coverage in an area with an organised screening program : Challenges for survey methods. / Rossi, Paolo Giorgi; Esposito, Gennaro; Brezzi, Silvia; Brachini, Angela; Raggi, Patrizio; Federici, Antonio.
In: BMC Health Services Research, Vol. 6, 36, 17.03.2006.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimation of Pap-test coverage in an area with an organised screening program
T2 - Challenges for survey methods
AU - Rossi, Paolo Giorgi
AU - Esposito, Gennaro
AU - Brezzi, Silvia
AU - Brachini, Angela
AU - Raggi, Patrizio
AU - Federici, Antonio
PY - 2006/3/17
Y1 - 2006/3/17
N2 - Background: The cytological screening programme of Viterbo has completed the second round of invitations to the entire target population (age 25-64). From a public health perspective, it is important to know the Pap-test coverage rate and the use of opportunistic screening. The most commonly used study design is the survey, but the validity of self-reports and the assumptions made about non respondents are often questioned. Methods: From the target population, 940 women were sampled, and responded to a telephone interview about Pap-test utilisation. The answers were compared with the screening program registry; comparing the dates of Pap-tests reported by both sources. Sensitivity analyses were performed for coverage over a 36-month period, according to various assumptions regarding non respondents. Results: The response rate was 68%. The coverage over 36 months was 86.4% if we assume that non respondents had the same coverage as respondents, 66% if we assume they were not covered at all, and 74.6% if we adjust for screening compliance in the non respondents. The sensitivity and specificity of the question, "have you ever had a Pap test with the screening programme" were 84.5% and 82.2% respectively. The test dates reported in the interview tended to be more recent than those reported in the registry, but 68% were within 12 months of each other. Conclusion: Surveys are useful tools to understand the effectiveness of a screening programme and women's self-report was sufficiently reliable in our setting, but the coverage estimates were strongly influenced by the assumptions we made regarding non respondents.
AB - Background: The cytological screening programme of Viterbo has completed the second round of invitations to the entire target population (age 25-64). From a public health perspective, it is important to know the Pap-test coverage rate and the use of opportunistic screening. The most commonly used study design is the survey, but the validity of self-reports and the assumptions made about non respondents are often questioned. Methods: From the target population, 940 women were sampled, and responded to a telephone interview about Pap-test utilisation. The answers were compared with the screening program registry; comparing the dates of Pap-tests reported by both sources. Sensitivity analyses were performed for coverage over a 36-month period, according to various assumptions regarding non respondents. Results: The response rate was 68%. The coverage over 36 months was 86.4% if we assume that non respondents had the same coverage as respondents, 66% if we assume they were not covered at all, and 74.6% if we adjust for screening compliance in the non respondents. The sensitivity and specificity of the question, "have you ever had a Pap test with the screening programme" were 84.5% and 82.2% respectively. The test dates reported in the interview tended to be more recent than those reported in the registry, but 68% were within 12 months of each other. Conclusion: Surveys are useful tools to understand the effectiveness of a screening programme and women's self-report was sufficiently reliable in our setting, but the coverage estimates were strongly influenced by the assumptions we made regarding non respondents.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645834588&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33645834588&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1472-6963-6-36
DO - 10.1186/1472-6963-6-36
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33645834588
VL - 6
JO - BMC Health Services Research
JF - BMC Health Services Research
SN - 1472-6963
M1 - 36
ER -