Health

ACOG recommends gynecological exam for teens

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 25, 2004

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Adolescent girls should receive their first gynecological check-up when they are between 13 and 15 years old, according to guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

That visit, which should ideally occur before sexual activity has started, should include health guidance and screening.

ACOG released the information to allay confusion that might have occurred because of a change in cervical cancer screening recommendations that push back the timing of a baseline Pap test until three years after intercourse, or by age 21.

New guidance developed by an ACOG committee notes that teens and their parents may not realize that a checkup is important whether a Pap test is administered or not since more than 60% of adolescent girls have had intercourse by age 18, putting them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

The committee also recommended that adolescents with abnormal Pap screening tests should be counseled and monitored closely but not treated aggressively for benign lesions because most lesions regress on their own without treatment and do not result in cervical cancer.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/10/25/hlbf1025.htm.

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