Health: Sisters Can Do It for Themselves ; A Fifth of Women Dread the Cervical Smear Test So Much That They Avoid the Doctor's Surgery, and Run the Risk of Cancer. an Experimental Kit That Allows Home-Screening Could Provide a Less Scary Alternative, Says REBECCA HARDY

Hardy, Rebecca, The Independent (London, England)

It's the blight of every woman's three-year calendar. The smear test, that dreaded half-hour where we sit with our legs open as someone prods us with a metal speculum like something out of a medieval torture chamber. No surprise then that almost one fifth of women neglect to have smears - and a significant majority choose not to because of the uncomfortable nature of the examination itself.

All women between 25 and 64 are recommended to have a Pap smear test every three years, a gynaecological examination that tests for cell changes in the cervix that may go on to become cervical cancer. The examination itself is straightforward but unpleasant: a metal speculum is …

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Publication information: Article title: Health: Sisters Can Do It for Themselves ; A Fifth of Women Dread the Cervical Smear Test So Much That They Avoid the Doctor's Surgery, and Run the Risk of Cancer. an Experimental Kit That Allows Home-Screening Could Provide a Less Scary Alternative, Says REBECCA HARDY. Contributors: Hardy, Rebecca - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: January 12, 2004. Page number: 10,11. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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