Excerpt

We undertook this systematic review to assist the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in updating its 2003 recommendation on cervical cancer screening. During the planning phase of this evidence review on cervical cancer screening, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) decided to fund a separate modeling study to be conducted simultaneously. The USPSTF determined that the scope for both the systematic review and the modeling study would focus on important clinical questions that could inform effective use of screening in practice. This systematic review focuses on when to begin screening and on updating test accuracy and harms data on liquid-based cytology (LBC) and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, either alone or in combination with cytology. The modeling study focuses on the effectiveness of strategies that use different ages at which to begin screening and different screening intervals.1 These two reports are intended to provide the USPSTF with complementary information to update its recommendation on cervical cancer screening.