Comparison of diagnostic efficacy of visual inspection of cervix with acetic acid and pap smear for prevention of cervical cancer: Is VIA superseding pap smear?

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate diagnostic efficacy of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in comparison to Pap smear. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried over a period of 24 months on 200 women attending colposcopy clinic at KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Center, Belgaum, India. All women enrolled in study underwent Pap smear, VIA, colposcopy and biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, false-positive rate and false-negative rate were calculated for VIA, Pap smear and colposcopy with biopsy as the reference standard. Results: In our study, sensitivity and specificity of VIA were found to be 86.95% and 72.51% respectively, and that of Pap smear 37.68% and 92.36% respectively. Colposcopy showed higher sensitivity (94.20%) and specificity (94.65%). Conclusion: VIA is a suitable primary screening procedure alternative to Pap smear as it has high sensitivity and negative predictive value.