Health Insurance Daily

Suggested Medical Care For Adolescent Girls

By Amy Kiley Ertel, MD
A common question of mothers with adolescent girls is "When should I have my daughter go to the gynecologist for her first pap test?" Recommendations for this initial medical visit have changed in recent years due to the increasing knowledge of why cervical cancers occur.

A Pap test is a specific test of the cervix that screens for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer has been strongly linked to a virus called the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). This virus is transmitted sexually, so an adolescent who has not been sexually active is at an extremely low risk for cervical cancer.

The old recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) stated that an initial Pap test needed to be performed on all adolescent girls after their first intercourse or by age 18, whichever occurred first. The new recommendations from ACOG specify that a baseline Pap test be performed approximately 3 years after intercourse or by age 21, whichever occurs first.

This may appear to be a delay in an adolescent's first visit to the gynecologist, however, ACOG also strongly recommends adolescents have their first visit between the ages of 13 and 15 for health guidance, screening, and preventative health. This first visit does not necessarily require a pelvic exam or Pap test, but would mainly be exposing the girls to the gynecologist before sexual activity occurs.

Hopefully, the gynecologist can give the adolescent the information and health care guidance needed to delay first intercourse.

posted by Mike @ 8:45 AM