[Validation of three screening tests used for early detection of cervical cancer].

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the validity (sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy) of three screening methods used in the early detection of the cervical carcinoma versus the histopathology diagnosis.

METHODS: a selected sample of 107 women attended in the Opportune Detection of Cervicouterine Cancer Program in the Hospital de Zona 46, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Durango, during the 2003 was included. The application of Papa-nicolaou, acetic acid test, and molecular detection of human papillomavirus, and histopatholgy diagnosis were performed in all the patients at the time of the gynecological exam. The detection and tipification of the human papillomavirus was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and analysis of polymorphisms of length of restriction fragments (RFLP). Histopathology diagnosis was considered the gold standard. The evaluation of the validity was carried out by the Bayesian method for diagnosis test.

RESULTS: the positive cases for acetic acid test, Papanicolaou, and PCR were 47, 22, and 19. The accuracy values were 0.70, 0.80 and 0.99, respectively.

CONCLUSION: since the molecular method showed a greater validity in the early detection of the cervical carcinoma we considered of vital importance its implementation in suitable programs of Opportune Detection of Cervicouterino Cancer Program in Mexico. However, in order to validate this conclusion, cross-sectional studies in different region of country must be carried out.