Quality of screening with conventional Pap smear in Austria – a longitudinal evaluation

BMC Public Health

Table 2 **Percentage of all Pap smears submitted to a laboratory* that were assessed as Pap 0 ⁺ (Bethesda 2001 equivalent: specimen processed and examined, but unsatisfactory for evaluation of epithelial abnormality)**

*Laboratories were identified by the number of specimens submitted. To safeguard anonymity the laboratories in Table 1 have no abbreviation, and the sequence of the laboratories in Tables 1 and 2 has been changed. Despite the loss of relevant information, this approach was necessary since non-anonymity might have discouraged laboratories from participating.
⁺A national standard, set by the Austrian Society of Cytology, requires that the category Pap 0 should be less than 2% of all smears taken (15).
**no data available;
Laboratories failing to meet the quality criterion are written in bold.

ISSN: 1471-2458