Assessing the impact of lubricant on liquid-based Pap smear test outcomes: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Since today cervical cancers are growing, there is an increasing need to use screening and examination methods. Meanwhile, liquid-based Pap smear test is a common screening method for women, which is widely applied today. Studies have found that use of lubricant gel in this test can affect the pathology and cytology results. Accordingly, the authors intended to evaluate the effect of use of lubricant gel on the Pap smear test results. Methods: This study was of single-blind clinical trial, the study population consisted of candidate patients for screening in terms of cervical pathology, for whom liquid-based Pap smear was done. In this study, 506 patients participated, divided into two groups of 253. One group used lubricant gel during the Pap smear, while the other group underwent this test without lubricant. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21. Results: The study results indicated that once the two groups were compared in terms of age, interval of menstruation time and intercourse time from the sampling, no significant relationship was found between the two groups (P>0.05). It was also found that use of lubricant did not affect the cytology and pathology results of patients (P>0.05). Conclusion: The use of lubricant gel in patients can reduce pain in patients during examination and testing, but does not affect the cytological and pathological results of patients.