New Pap Test Guidelines: Start Later, Have Fewer

Experts urge first screen at 21, then once every 2 years or more, not annually

November 20, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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But Einstein stressed that the guidelines are just that: guidelines. A physician must take patient risk into account and decide the best schedule on an individual basis, he said.

And, he said, "it is still important for young women to be coming in regularly for sexually transmitted disease testing."

Dr. Ernest Han, a gynecologic oncologist and assistant professor at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif., said that "as more studies are coming to light, I think we are seeing a trend toward targeted screening, eliminating some."

And he agreed with Einstein: "The guidelines are just guidelines. You have to look at the individual and her risk factors, her behavior, [whether] she had an abnormal Pap in the past."

More information

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has more on Pap tests.