A review of a prison cervical cancer screening program in British Columbia.

OBJECTIVE To review a 1995 Pap smear screening program at Burnaby Correctional Centre for Women (BCCW). METHOD 129 inmates (15%), were screened in BCCW in 1995. General population data were obtained from the British Columbia Cervical Cytology Screening Program (BC CCSP) Registry. RESULTS BCCW inmates aged 25-29 years were 11 times more likely to have high grade cytologic abnormalities on Pap smear screening compared with age-matched general population (p < 10(-10). In the 20-34 year age group, 47% of BCCW inmates had received at least one Pap smear in 1992-1994, compared with 87% of the general population (p < 0.001). There was no relationship between Pap smear results and BCCW inmate ethnicity (p = 0.85). CONCLUSIONS Prison inmates presented with more severe abnormalities on Pap smear screening at a younger age, and had received Pap smear screening less frequently, compared with the general population.