Human papilloma virus screening: evaluation of testing and surveillance in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Immunosuppression is a known risk factor for cervical cancer. Women with rheumatic conditions are immunosuppressed due to the disease and the treatments. One of the main risk factors for this neoplasm is the lack of adherence to early detection programmes for human papillomavirus. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the adherence to the screening programme of patients in the Rheumatology Clinic, as well as to evaluate the prevalence of cervical lesions and their association with the different disease characteristics and the treatments received. MATERIAL AND METHODS A descriptive retrospective study. The electronic medical history of patients actively being followed up in a tertiary hospital with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus were reviewed. RESULTS Finally, 307 patients were included. No data were found for screening programme attendance in up to 42.4% of the patients (39.6% in rheumatoid arthritis, 43.8% in psoriatic arthritis and 46% in systemic lupus erythematosus). Among the patients who attended the screening programme at least once (57.6%), the prevalence of cervical dysplasia was 5.1%. No cases of neoplasia were found. In the simple logistic regression analysis, there was no association between attending the screening programme and any variable. The study also showed no association between the variables collected and the presence of infection and dysplasia. CONCLUSION These results are influenced by the absence of screening data in a significant percentage of patients and by the low prevalence of dysplasia found in this series of patients with rheumatic diseases.