Just 4% of US ob-gyns adhere to cervical cancer guidelines, ACOG finds

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has found that despite it having issued guidelines for cervical cancer screening in 2009, US physicians have been slow to follow up.

A survey of 10,000 obstetrician-gynaecologists, all of whom are ACOG members, found that just four per cent reported adhering to all of the 2009 guidelines.

Furthermore, it was discovered that less than one-third of ob-gyns vaccinate eligible patients against the human papilloma virus (HPV) - a precaution recommended by the ACOG since 2006 for all women between the ages of 11 and 26.

This was despite 96 per cent of respondents saying they'd recommend HPV vaccination to a hypothetical 13-year-old patient. The most common reasons for not having carried out the procedure were parent and patient refusals.

Around one-half of physicians followed ACOG guidelines to screen for cervical cancer between the ages of 21 and 70, but many reported straying from the organisation's recommended intervals or withholding screenings unless requested by the patient.