How Often to do PAP tests?

The American College of Physicians has released a set of best practices to reduce unnecessary use of cervical cancer screening in average-risk women — that is, those who have no history of precancerous lesions or cervical cancer, or at other increased risk.

Among the recommended best practices for screening average-risk women, based on systematic reviews and recent guidelines:
• Don't screen women under age 21, regardless of sexual history.
• At age 21, start screening every 3 years
• For women aged 30-65, a combination of PAP plus human papillomavirus (HPV) testing may be used every 5 years.
• HPV testing should not be performed before age 30.
• Women should not be screened beyond age 65 if they've had either three consecutive negative tests or two negative PAPs and HPV tests within 10 years (the most recent test must be within 5 years).
• Don't screen women who've had a hysterectomy with cervix removal.

The advice is endorsed by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society for Clinical Pathology and appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine.