Prevalence of Abnormal Cervical Cytology among Postnatal Clinic Attendees at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Background: Carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a deadly disease, but it is preventable. Cervical cytology especially at postnatal visit can lead to its early detection and prompt treatment. Methods: This was a prospective cross sectional study of postnatal women to determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology and their socio-demographic characteristics. Patients were recruited from the antenatal clinic and counseled on the need for postnatal cervical smear. Only those who consented and met the inclusion criteria were followed up in the postnatal clinic. Institutional ethical clearance was also obtained. Researcher administered questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic features while Aye’s spatula and endocervical brush were used to collect specimen from the ectocervix and endocervix respectively and smeared on individually labeled glass slides. The samples were treated using the conventional Papanicolaou staining method and reported using the Bethesda system. Researcher-administered questionnaire generated data as well as results of cytology were analyzed using Epi-Info version 3.5.1.0 (CDC Atlanta USA 2008). Colposcopy was done for smear positive patients. Results: There were 100 women screened. Three percent had low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. There were no abnormal findings from the Colposcopy of the three patients. Ninety-five percent of the women had no prior knowledge of cervical cancer and Pap smear. Two percent of the women had a family history of cervical cancer and both patients died of the disease due to lack of facilities for treatment. Conclusions: Cervical cancer is a preventable disease but women of the sub-region are under-screened. Postnatal Pap smear is a necessary tool in its early diagnosis and treatment.