Background: Cervical cancer, despite being a preventable disease claims the lives of significant number of women every year. Cervical cytology which is a standard screening tool in developed countries fails as a screening method in low-resource countries due to financial and technical constraints. Objective: To determine the prevalence of pre-malignant lesions of the cervix by visual inspection with Lugol's iodine (VILI) and cervical cytology method (Pap smear) among rural married women. Materials and Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among 30-65 years old married women in the field practice area of a tertiary health care center. A pre-designed questionnaire was administered to collect information on socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics from 316 women. They were tested for the presence of pre-malignant lesions of the cervix using Pap smear and VILI as screening tools. Results: The VILI test was positive among 24 (7.6%) women and positivity was found to be more in the age group of 50 years and above, and among women from low socio-economic status. But the observed variations were statistically insignificant. None of the Pap smears showed any epithelial cellular abnormalities. Conclusion: The prevalence of pre-malignant lesions of the cervix by VILI was 7.6 % while no pre-malignant lesion was detected by Pap smear method.

Author Name: Shetty RS, Pai RP, Kamath VG, Manjunath AP

URL: View PDF

Keywords: cervical cancer, pre-malignant lesion, Pap smear, VILI, screening

ISSN: 2250 - 3056

EISSN: 2348 - 2303

EOI/DOI:

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