Pap smears in the extreme South of Brazil: low coverage and exposure of the most vulnerable pregnant women

OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence, assess trends and identify factors associated with non-performance of Pap smears among postpartum women residing in Rio Grande, Southern Brazil. METHODS: Between 01/01 and 12/31 of 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019, previously trained interviewers applied a single standardized questionnaire at the hospital to all postpartum women residing in this municipality. It was investigated from the planning of pregnancy to the immediate postpartum period. The outcome consisted of not performing a Pap smear in the last three years. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions and assess trends, and Poisson regression with robust variance adjustment in the multivariate analysis. The measure of effect was the prevalence ratio (PR). RESULTS: Although 80% of the 12,415 study participants had performed at least six prenatal consultations, 43.0% (95%CI 42.1–43.9%) had not been screened in the period. This proportion ranged from 64.0% (62.1–65.8%) to 27.9% (26.1–29.6%). The adjusted analysis showed a higher PR for not performing Pap smears among younger puerperal women, living without a partner, with black skin color, lower schooling, and family income, who did not have paid work during pregnancy or planned pregnancy, who attended fewer prenatal consultations. smoked during pregnancy and were not being treated for any illness. CONCLUSION: Despite the improvement in coverage, the observed rate of non-performance of Pap smears is still high. Women most likely to have cervical cancer were those who had the highest PR for not having this test.