Rates of Cervical Cancer Screening and Dysplasia Among Refugees in a Health Care Safety Net System

Refugees may be at higher risk of cervical dysplasia. The prevalence of screening, pathology, risk factors, and management of patients in our Refugee Women’s Health Clinic (RWHC) was assessed. A retrospective review of RWHC patient records between 2009 and 2015 assessed demographic factors, medical history, initial chief complaint, prevalence of screening, HPV status, and loss to follow-up. We reviewed 696 charts; 84.2% (n = 586) were successfully screened. Prevalence of dysplasia was 6.8% (n = 40). Among those, 5% (n = 2) had high-grade dysplasia, equivalent to 0.34% of the screened population. Only 43.6% received indicated colposcopy. FGM/C was associated with non-statistically significant higher rate of dysplasia, at 11.3%. HIV was associated with a statistically significant higher rate of dysplasia at 36.8% (p < 0.001). The rate of high-grade cervical dysplasia among refugees in RWHC is similar to their home countries. RWHC patients were screened at a higher rate than the general Arizona population.