Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Papanicoloau Smear Uptake Among Substance-Using Mothers In Western Australia, Sadie Geraghty, Sara J. Bayes, Renate Mclaurin, Angela O'Connor

Research outputs 2013

Background: Papanicoloau (Pap) smear screening has helped to reduce cervical cancer rates significantly through the detection of premalignant cells (Bray et al, 2005). Uptake among women who use alcohol and other drugs (AOD) is known to be low (Chau et al, 2002) so they are at increased risk of being under-represented in the adequately screened population. AOD-using women experience disproportionately increased morbidity and mortality from cervical dysplasia and cancer (Nogara et al, 2013). Pregnancy may provide the midwife an opportunity to offer this vital screening test. Objective: The audit investigated Pap smear uptake and results among AOD-using pregnant women. Setting: …