Letter

When to test women for human papillomavirus: Testing is possible without increasing colposcopy referral rate

BMJ 2006; 332 doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7535.237 (Published 26 January 2006)
Cite this as: BMJ 2006;332:237.1

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  1. Johannes Berkhof, assistant professor (h.berkhof@vumc.nl),
  2. Folkert J van Kemenade PhD,
  3. Peter J Snijders PhD,
  4. René H Verheijen, professor,
  5. Chris J Meijer, professor
  1. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Centre, 1007 MB Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Editor—Moss et al show that colposcopy referral rates double if women with equivocal or mild cytological abnormality are referred for immediate colposcopy when human papillomavirus (HPV) is present in the first abnormal smear. 1 Their colposcopy rates in women aged 35-64 seem to contradict those observed in the Netherlands.

    We computed colposcopy referral rates in the Netherlands from data collected in the two armed POBASCAM screening trial. 2 Women of 30-60 with borderline or mild dyskaryosis were recalled at 6 and 18 months and referred for colposcopy on the basis of …

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