Annual visits to healthy women are never limited to the Pap test
These days, many people can avoid the dreaded Pap test in favor of a much less invasive and more private method of cervical cancer screening: disposable, homemade swabs that can be used to test for high-risk variants of HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. most cases of cervical cancer. In January, the United States Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) many people said can opt for self-testwhether at home or in a healthcare facility, rather than undergoing uncomfortable exams with a clinician.
Testing at home for HPV, short for human papillomavirus, is a big step forward, but don’t lose your gynecologist’s number just yet. There are reasons to make an appointment with a gynecologist that have nothing to do with cervical cancer, says Jeanne Conry, a gynecologist who previously chaired the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative, an HRSA-backed coalition that makes recommendations on women’s health care. “If we think of ourselves only as Pap smear specialists,” she says of obstetrician-gynecologists, “we have failed [patients].”
Cervical cancer screening is vital. Research has long suggested that Most people diagnosed with the disease are not or are under-screened, which is common. From 2021, about a quarter of American women were not up to date, according to the American Cancer Society. This is where at-home HPV testing comes in. This type of discreet test has the potential increase screening rates for certain groups of women, including those who were previously late during testing.
A person who gets an abnormal result on a home test will likely need a follow-up test. And people at high risk of developing cervical cancer, including those with weakened immune systems or who have been diagnosed with a precancerous disease, should always have regular medical checkups. The same goes for people in their 20s — a decade when sexually transmitted HPV infections are common and generally harmless, says Amanda Bruegl, a gynecologic oncologist at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine in Portland. However some research suggests self-collection works just as well as clinician-directed HPV testing, the American Cancer Society still votes to let your doctor do it, if possible.
Conry agrees with this position – largely because “a woman who comes to the office to see a clinician is going to take care of everything, plus cervical cancer screening.”
The average visit for a healthy woman involves much more than a Pap smear – which even before Latest directive from HRSAmost patients do not need it every year. During one of these appointments, an obstetrician-gynecologist may also perform a breast exam, provide a consultation about birth control and family planning, screen for other STIs, talk about menstruation or menopause and much more, says Colleen Denny, a New York-based obstetrician-gynecologist and member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
“We have 20 minutes to talk about everything that happened to you in your reproductive life throughout the year,” says Denny. “It’s great that we don’t have to put a Pap test in there as well.”
In the United States, where almost a third of the population has limited access to primary care, an obstetrician-gynecologist may also be the doctor some people see most regularly – or the only one they see regularly. In a 2022 study Among U.S. women of childbearing age, researchers found that between 2011 and 2016, obstetrician-gynecologists used preventative health care more than general practitioners.
Obstetrician-gynecologists sometimes provide much more than reproductive health care. “I do things like refill patients’ asthma inhalers and screen them for depression,” Denny says. Blood pressure checks, vaccinations and general maintenance can all take place during gynecologist visits, says Bruegl.
The bottom line: Skipping annual appointments means missing important care. HPV testing can now take place at home. But “someone should talk about everything [other] basic health exams, all the basic wellness things, every year,” says Bruegl.