Prevalence and Risk Factors of Cervical Neoplastic Lesions in Patients Attending a Healthcare Specialty Clinic, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Screening programs for cervical neoplasm among women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are very limited. Objective: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of cervical epithelial abnormalities among patients attending a health care specialty center (HCSC) of King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, KSA. Design: A questionnaire was developed to collect information about socio-demographic variables followed by cytopathological analysis of Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. Settings: Female patients attending the gynecology clinic in the HCSC for cervical abnormalities during 2006 and 2008 were selected for the study. Subjects and Methods: Pap smear was collected and subjected to cytopathological analysis, which was further classified according to the revised Bethesda 2001 system. Information on socio-demographic variables, type and duration of oral contraceptives usage, active or pas sive smoking, history of sexually transmitted disease, or cervical cancer was collected by trained healthcare professionals. Results were analyzed using chi-square test and t-test. Main outcome measures: Lower frequency of cervical lesions among KSA females in comparison with the western countries. Results: A total of 495 Pap smears were studied, out of which 31 Pap smears were found to be unsatisfactory and therefore excluded. Among the remaining Pap smears, 6.5% were found to be abnormal; however, this was not statistically significant. None of the studied socio-demographic factors were found to be significantly correlated with the appearance of abnormal Pap smears, except for passive smoking. Conclusion: Saudi Arabia had a lower frequency of cervical lesions in comparison with the western countries. Further, this study can serve as a pilot study for a larger national screening program for the identification of prevalence and risk factors of cervical lesions in the women of KSA. Limitations: Cases included in the study belong to the particular period, and patients with abnormal Pap smears were not followed up. In-extension, the included data w ere not restricted for a particular community.