Profile of cervical cancer screening in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil: an evaluative study, 2006-2018

OBJECTIVE: To assess the coverage and quality of screening by the Cervical Cancer Control Program in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, between 2006 and 2018. METHODS: This was a descriptive study of the cytology screening time series among women living in Campo Grande. A descriptive analysis of the demographic characteristics of these women and the quality of the tests performed in the last five years of the period was carried out. Temporal trends were analyzed using polynomial regression models. RESULTS: 578,417 cytology tests were recorded, of which 1.8% showed pre-malignant/malignant cytological changes. There was a 48.4% reduction in the number of tests performed in the Program's target age group. Test positivity varied between 2.2% and 3.3% and the percentage of unsatisfactory samples increased. CONCLUSION: The cervical cancer screening program has weaknesses that need to be overcome, such as low coverage of the target population, growth in the number of unsatisfactory samples and a low positivity rate.