THE EFFECT OF ORDERING IN ENDOCERVIX-EXOCERVIX SAMPLING ON PAP SMEAR RESULTS

Background and Cervical Cancer is one of the most Common cancers in the world and is primarily diagnosed by pap smear. This study was conducted to determined the effect of endocervix-exocervix order in sampling on pap smear results in women referring to Imamreza Clinic in Mashad, Iran. Methods and Materials: In this clinical trial, 211 women were conveniently sampled for the study; within a month, their samples of endocervix-exocervix (control) and exocervix-endocervix (case) were obtained. Uninterpretable or limited interpretations of pap smear due to blood, spoiled samples due to dry air or endocervix cells were compared. Chi-square and ratio Comparison were used to determind the significant differences of the quality and efficiency of samples in two methods. 97.2% of the exocervix-endocervix samples and 96.7% of the opposite-order samples contained endocervix cells, which rendered no significant difference between the two methods (p=0.2). Obscured pap smear results due to blood were found more in endocervix-exocervix samples (p=0.0003). No significant difference was found to exist between the two groups as there were no obscured or limited interpretations due to dry air. Samples of the exocervix-endocervix order were of better quality