ACCURACY OF WOMENS RECALL OF OPPORTUNISTIC RECRUITMENT FOR CERVICAL-CANCER SCREENING IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

Evaluation of strategies to improve opportunistic recruitment via gene ral practice of women overdue for a cervical smear requires an accurat e behavioural measure. As part of an experimental trial to evaluate th e effect of a postgraduate workshop on preventive care, we conducted t his methodological study to determine the accuracy of women's recall o f an opportunistic discussion about cervical screening, by comparing i t against audiotapes (n = 524). Taking the taped evidence of the train ee's verbal behaviour as the gold standard, sensitivity was 85 per cen t (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 73.1 to 92.0 per cent) and spe cificity was 18 per cent (CI 73.9 to 81.6 per cent). Given the low rat e of opportunistic recruitment by trainees in the main study, only one -third of positive recollections by women of an opportunistic discussi on about cervical screening were correct. Until other measures have be en validated, women's recall may continue to be used to measure genera l practitioners' behaviour, but an appreciation of likely bias is reco mmended.