Pap smear screening practices in newcomer women

The Papanicolaou (Pap) test is an effective screening procedure to test's wide use has contributed to the steady decline in cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in Canada and other parts of the noninvasive stage. The World.(1,2) However, many women are still at risk for this disease. These women include sexually active young females(3) and minority women with language and cultural barriers to health services.(4) The Canadian Task Force for Cervical Cancer Screening(1) recommends that all women have a Pap test when they first become sexually active and be retested within 1 year. Rescreening should be done every 3 years until age 69, if the first two tests are normal. Women who are sexually active at an early age and those with multiple sexual partners should have an annual Pap test. Despite these guidelines, many Canadian women never have a smear test or are not tested regularly. The 1990 Canada's Health Promotion Survey(5) revealed that 30% of women had not had a Pap test within 3 years of the survey, and 21% of sexually active women reported never being screened. The few available studies on Pap smear screening patterns among ethnic minority women show that although blacks are screened at similar or higher rates than whites, women of ethnic minority groups are least likely to have received a Pap test(6,7) and have lower cancer survival rates when compared with whites.(8) Disparity in health status thus exists between ethnic-minority groups and the larger population. Recent immigrants in Canada are more diverse than those of the last immigration surge in terms of national, linguistic, religious, racial, and cultural backgrounds.(9) They are more at risk for diseases than is mainstream society because of their curative rather than preventive health practices. During their immigration process, newcomers are often preoccupied with stresses from unemployment, isolation, misplacement, or discrimination. They do not view preventive health care such as cancer prevention as a priority.(10) Thus, an understanding of the patterns of cancer screening practices among ethnic minority women should enable health care providers to better assess and respond to their health needs. The author examines newcomer women's Pap smear screening practices in relation to their sexual activity and socioeconomic status. Findings presented are part of the data collected from the Newcomer's Health Survey.(11)