A population-based cervical cancer screening programme uses VIA (Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid) at primary care level. The rationale for choosing VIA over Pap smear in this setting is:

• A VIA has higher sensitivity and specificity than Pap smear
• B VIA detects all grades of CIN while Pap smear misses CIN 1
• C VIA provides immediate results without laboratory infrastructure and has acceptable sensitivity ✓
• D VIA is more effective in post-menopausal women

Explanation

VIA is preferred over Pap smear in low-resource settings because it gives immediate results (no need for laboratory processing, cytotechnologist, or pathologist), allows same-visit screen-and-treat with cryotherapy, has acceptable sensitivity (70–80%) and specificity (70–85%), and is feasible at CHC/PHC level. Pap smear has better specificity but requires infrastructure and has high loss to follow-up in field settings.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.