TITLE:
Prevalence and Risk Factors of Cervical Neoplastic Lesions in Patients Attending a Healthcare Specialty Clinic, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Maha M. Shalabi, Rawaa I. Ismael, Saeed ur Rahman, Hind Al Shatry
KEYWORDS:
Screening, Prevalence, Cervical Cancer, Cervical Epithelial Lesions
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cancer Therapy,
Vol.9 No.3,
March
28,
2018
ABSTRACT: Background: Screening programs for cervical neoplasm among women in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA) are very limited. Objective: To investigate the
prevalence and risk factors of cervical epithelial abnormalities among patients
attending a health care specialty center (HCSC) of King Abdulaziz Medical City,
Riyadh, KSA. Design: A questionnaire was developed to collect
information about socio-demographic variables followed by cytopathological
analysis of Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. Settings: Female patients attending the
gynecology clinic in the HCSC for cervical abnormalities during 2006 and 2008 were selected for the study. Subjects and
Methods: Pap smear was collected and subjected to cytopathological analysis,
which was further classified according to the revised Bethesda 2001 system.
Information on socio-demographic variables, type and duration of oral
contraceptives usage, active or passive smoking, history of sexually
transmitted disease, or cervical cancer was collected by trained healthcare
professionals. Results were analyzed using chi-square test and t-test. Main
outcome measures: Lower frequency of cervical lesions among KSA females in
comparison with the western countries. Results: A total of 495 Pap
smears were studied, out of which 31 Pap smears were found to be unsatisfactory
and therefore excluded. Among the remaining Pap smears, 6.5% were found to be
abnormal; however, this was not statistically significant. None of the studied
socio-demographic factors were found to be significantly correlated with the
appearance of abnormal Pap smears, except for passive smoking. Conclusion: Saudi Arabia had a lower frequency of cervical lesions in comparison with the
western countries. Further, this study can serve as a pilot study for a larger
national screening program for the identification of prevalence and risk
factors of cervical lesions in the women of KSA. Limitations: Cases
included in the study belong to the particular period, and patients with
abnormal Pap smears were not followed up. In-extension, the included data were not restricted for a
particular community.