Are barrier methods protective against cervical cancer?
Daling, J.R.; Weiss, N.S.
Epidemiology 1(4): 261-262
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 1044-3983 PMID: 2083301 DOI: 10.2307/25759810Document Number: 376394
A newly published study on the effect of barrier methods of contraception on the risk of cervical cancer found no effect of barrier methods, but a slightly lower risk for women who used spermicides alone. The risk was lower if these spermicide users were of a higher educationl level or socioeconomic status, and was associated with interval since the last Pap smear and the total number of sex partners. The results do not give strong evidence either for or against barrier or spermicide methods. The ideal case-control study of this type would have full information about the disease status of the male partner, and would focus strictly on the use or non-use of barrier methods for the woman's whole reproductive span. A realistic way of designing such a study would be to subdivide subjects by numbers of sexual partners, and by intervals when barrier methods were always or never used. Another design might focus on the times of a woman's life when she was at greatest risk of being exposed.