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| |  Abnormal Cervical Smear Results Confusing And Frightening LONDON, ENGLAND -- May 9, 1997 -- Women who have abnormalities detected on cervical smears are confused, afraid, and find it difficult to get the information they require, says a paper in this week’s British Medical Journal (BMJ). Dealing with cervical abnormalities may be relatively routine for doctors, say the authors, but for women the diagnosis can be alarming and confusing. Although abnormal smear test results are quite common, most women with abnormal results do not have symptoms and have no way in which to recognise and monitor their condition. The Australian authors studied how well healthcare services met the needs of 29 women with a cervical cytology abnormality, and found that, although most of then wanted to participate in decisions about their care, they found it difficult to get the information they wanted from doctors. Medical terms such as wart virus and precancer were difficult to understand -- some women believed that they meant they had cancer -- and many felt unable to ask questions in the consultation. One woman said: “He was talking to me while I was up [in the colposcopy chair] and it is not conducive to thinking what you’re meant to ask ..... As you get out of the chair, he starts writing his notes, you get dressed, and he opens the door for you. There’s really no discussion at all -- you virtually do just as you’re told.” The authors recommend that the development of precolposcopy clinics, where women could have the chance to discuss medical terminology, treatment options and details of the procedure itself, before having the examination, would do much to ensure that patients were both better informed and reassured.
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