Prev Med

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the HPV testing recommendations of US physicians who perform cervical cancer screening.MethodsData from the 2015 DocStyles survey of U.S. health care providers were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to identify provider characteristics associated with routine recommendation of primary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women 6530 years old. The analysis was limited to primary care physicians and obstetrician-gynecologists who performed cervical cancer screening (N = 843).ResultsPrimary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women 6530 years old was recommended by 40.8% of physicians who performed cervical cancer screening, and 90.1% of these providers recommended primary HPV testing for women of all ages. The screening intervals most commonly recommended for primary HPV testing with average-risk, asymptomatic women 6530 years old were every 3 years (35.5%) and annually (30.2%). Physicians who reported that patient HPV vaccination status influenced their cervical cancer screening practices were almost four times more likely to recommend primary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women 6530 years old than other providers (Adj OR = 3.96, 95% CI = 2.82\u20135.57).ConclusionMany US physicians recommended primary HPV testing for women of all ages, contrary to guidelines which limit this screening approach to women 6525 years old. The association between provider recommendation of primary HPV testing and patient HPV vaccination status may be due to anticipated reductions in the most oncogenic HPV types among vaccinated women.20172018-02-12T00:00:00ZCC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States29056319PMC5809311880