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Chapter II. Methods
satisfaction; and 1 compares cytology alone to cytology with cervicography as a primary
screening modality. This exercise confirmed our assessment that few data would be available
from randomized controlled clinical trials to inform our review.
Because final inclusion criteria were closely linked to the intent of the key question, we
give greater detail about selection of articles for each of the key questions below. Table 5
summarizes the disposition of the articles identified in the literature search and the number of
full articles on each topic retained for review.
Key Question 1: Screening Among Older Women and After Hysterectomy
The majority of the relevant literature identified for Key Question 1 is based on site-of-
care or population-based prospective and retrospective studies and case-control studies. The
large number of full articles that we retained for final abstraction reflected the need to examine
the articles themselves to determine whether they provided data on benefits and risks of
screening for particular groups (i.e., women age 65 and older) and in sufficient detail to clarify
the relative performance of different screening intervals. We specifically sought articles that
evaluated clinical risk prediction tools for assigning screening interval. Samples of the screening
forms used to document decision making about inclusion of articles for Key Questions 1A and
1B appear in Appendix B.
In total, we screened 118 full articles to determine relevance. Of these, we retained 42
articles for Key Question 1A and 1B: 14 for full abstraction and 28 for supplementary
information.
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