Attendance Rate ( 2003 - 2005 ) of the Hungarian Organized , Nation - Wide Cervical Cancer Screening Program

Background: Organized nationwide screening programme for cervical cancer was introduced in Hungary in 2003. Women between the ages of 25 and 65 are invited by personal letter, and a 3year screening interval has been applied. Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyse both the annual and 3-year screening rate (attendance) of the organized programme. Methods: The data derive from the financial database of the National Health Insurance Fund Administration (OEP) of Hungary covering the period of 2000–05. First, we calculated the annual screening rate; then we compared the 3-year screening rate of two periods: 2000–02 without and 2003–05 with the organized screening programme. Screening is defined with cytological examination of Papanicolau smear. Results: The annual screening rate of women for all age groups varied between 15.5% and 16.8% during the 6 years between 2000 and 2005. The age-specific screening rate of women aged 25 to 64 years varied between 21.8 % and 24.3 % between 2000–05. The 3-year screening rate of women for all age groups was 31.4 % in 2000–02 and 32.9 % in 2003–05. The age-specific screening rate of women in the target population aged 25 to 64 years increased from 48.45% in 2000–02 without the organized screening programme to 52.65 % in 2003–05 following introduction of the organized screening programme. Conclusions: Introduction of the organized cervical screening programme resulted in a 4.2% increase in screening rates in the target age group of women aged 45 to 64 years. In order to reduce cervical cancer mortality, the screening rate (attendance) must be increased. Cervical Cancer Abstracts Page 1 of 6 ICSN Biennial Meeting 2008 Helsingør, Denmark Comparative Study Between Pap Smear Cytology and FTIR Spectroscopy: A New Tool for Screening for Cervical Cancer Author: NH Othman Affiliation: School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia