Unnecessary Bimanual Pelvic Examinations and Papanicolaou Testing in Adolescents and Young Women—Learning How to Unlearn
Menée aux Etats-Unis à partir d'une enquête auprès d'un échantillon de 3 410 femmes âgées de 15 à 20 ans, cette étude estime la prévalence d'examens pelviens bimanuels et de tests Pap non nécessaires puis identifie les facteurs associés au recours à ces examens et à ce test
In this issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, Qin and colleagues report that more than half of bimanual pelvic examinations and about 70% of Papanicolaou (Pap) tests performed among girls and women aged 15 to 20 years in the United States are potentially unnecessary. The findings of their cross-sectional study demonstrate what happens to vulnerable populations (in this case, girls and young women) when clinicians do not keep up with or do not adhere to new guidelines.Using 2011-2017 data from the National Survey of Family Growth, Qin et al1 found that an estimated 2.2 million adolescent girls and women (19.2%) aged 15 to 20 years had received a Pap test in the past 12 months. Almost 72% of these tests were potentially unnecessary, representing 1.6 million individuals. They also found that 2.6 million girls and women (22.9%) aged 15 to 20 years had received a bimanual pelvic examination in the past year. More than half of these examinations (54.4%) were potentially unnecessary, representing about 1.4 million girls and young women. Almost all of the potentially unnecessary bimanual pelvic examinations were performed at the same visit as the potentially unnecessary screening Pap test.
JAMA Internal Medicine , commentaire, 2019