The effect of continuous monitoring of cytologic-histologic correlation data on cervical cancer screening performance

Context.—The use of Papanicolaou (Pap) test cytologic-histologic correlation in quality improvement activities is not well studied. Objective.—To determine if continuous monitoring of correlation data improves performance. Design.—Participants in the College of American Pathologists Q-Tracks program (213 laboratories) self-reported the number of Pap test–histologic biopsy correlation discrepancies every quarter for up to 8 years. A mixed linear model determined if the length of participation in the Q-Tracks program was associated with improved performance. Main outcome measures were predictive value of a positive Pap test, Pap test sensitivity, sampling sensitivity, and proportion of positive histologic diagnoses following a Pap test diagnosis of atypical squamous cells or atypical glandular cells. Results.—Institutions evaluated 287 570 paired Pap test– histologic correlation specimens and found 98 424 (34.2%) true-positive Pap test correlations, 19 006 (6.6%) false-positive Pap test correlations, and 6575 (2.3%) false-negative Pap test correlations. The mean predictive value of a positive Pap test, sensitivity, screening and interpretive sensitivity, sampling sensitivity, and proportion of positive histologic diagnoses following a Pap test diagnosis of atypical squamous or glandular cells were 83.6%, 93.7%, 99.2%, 94.2%, 60.3%, and 38.8%, respectively. Longer participation was significantly associated with a higher predictive value of a positive Pap test (P = .01), higher Pap test sensitivity (P = .002), higher Pap test sampling sensitivity (P = .03), and higher proportion of positive histologic diagnoses for a Pap test diagnosis of atypical squamous cells (P < .001). Conclusions.—Long-term monitoring of cytologic-histologic correlation is associated with improvement in cytologic-histologic correlation performance.