Adherence to the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology
Guidelines: An Observational Study
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate adherence to the 2012 ASCCP guidelines by
physicians referring patients to a large academic center for a
colposcopy and to understand the factors associated with incorrect
referrals. Design: A retrospective observational study Setting: A large
tertiary referral hospital Population: Woman referred to Virginia
Commonwealth University for colposcopy or loop electrosurgical excision
procedure from January 2015 to December 2016. Methods: Data on patient
demographics, cervical cytology, human papillomavirus status, and the
recommended interventions were gathered. Main Outcome Measures:
Concordance with ASCCP guidelines Results: Referral requests for 430
women were reviewed. Of the referrals, 17.4% were discordant with the
ASCCP guidelines. The most common discordant colposcopy referrals were
for low-grade squamous intraepithelial (LSIL) lesion (48%) and atypical
squamous cell of undetermined significance (29%). The likelihood of
incorrect referral was decreased for high grade lesions (OR 0.03),
increased in women age < 25 (OR 31.6) and those referred by
family medicine (OR 3.6) or internal medicine (OR 4.4). Ten patients
were referred for cervical cytology collected on vaginal cuffs despite
hysterectomies performed for benign reasons. Conclusions: Patients
referred outside of the guidelines were most often women age <
25 with low-grade lesions. Referrals outside of evidence-based
guidelines may lead to unnecessary procedures and added healthcare
expense. Our results help identify areas for provider education and
potential areas for concern in the implementation of the 2019 ASCCP
updates.