First Racial-Ethnic Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Data

WASHINGTON—A new analysis of data from the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) shows that among women who received their first NBCCEDP Pap test between 1991 and 1998, American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) women had the highest proportion of abnormal Pap tests, while white women had the highest rate of serious cervical lesions detected by biopsy.

Specifically, 4.4% of AI/AN women, 3.2% of blacks, 3.0% of whites, 2.7% of Hispanics, and 1.9% of Asian and Pacific Islanders (A/PIs) had abnormal tests. Biopsies detected serious cervical lesions in 9.9 per 1,000 Pap tests among whites, followed by Hispanics with 7.6 per 1,000, blacks at 7.1 per 1,000, AI/AN women with 6.7 per 1,000, and A/PIs at 5.4 per 1,000 Pap tests.

AI/AN women were the least likely to have ever had a Pap test prior to participating in a NBCCEDP screening. Black women were the least likely to receive follow-up care after a diagnosis of a serious cervical lesion.

NBCCEDP, which is administered by the CDC, is a federally funded program that provides breast and cervical cancer screenings to older and low-income women, and underserved women of racial and ethnic minority groups.