On the heels of a controversial change to breast cancer screening guidelines, a new report says women should change how often they get screened for cervical cancer. This report is from the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists, also known as ACOG.
Under the new guidelines women should begin getting tested at age 21, instead of the previous recommendation of three years after becoming sexually active or at age 18, whichever comes first.
The report also says women in their twenties need a pap test every two years rather than annually. And women 30 and older should wait three years between tests once they've had three consecutive clear results.
Doctors have been preaching it to women for years: get a pap smear annually. Now they say you don't need it that often, maybe once every two or three years.
" PAP test-wise, it's a good idea. I'm just afraid of women saying, well I don't have to come in for two years, then you forget. Not coming in for 3 years and missing all the other stuff you need to see your doctor about you know," said Dr. James Fanning, Chief of Gynecologic Oncology , Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute. Stuff like checking blood pressure and a breast exam; all comes with getting checked for cervical cancer.
And women CBS 21 News spoke with say they know the importance of all that stuff. That's why they'll continue to see their doctor once a year.
"We get to hurting and we don't go because, you know, they always find something else wrong, but me, I go," said Carolyn Williams, Dauphin County.
" I think they're totally wrong. You need to be screened. I don't think age matters. I have cancer so I think you should be screened every year," said Rhonda Heffelfinger, York County.
" I still think every year, no matter what age we are because, you never know, you may not go within three years, there may be something growing and then not know it," said Jasmine Pinnick, Dauphin County.
Unlike the women we spoke with, the American Cancer Society doesn't seem to have much opposition to the new guidelines, saying they plan on reviewing them within the year.
If you still want to get a pap smear once a year, despite these new guidelines, experts say you should be covered under your insurance. But that could change in the future, so check with your health care provider.
To get more information about these new guidelines, click the " find it " button on this website.
