A study confirmed on Monday that there are a lot of doctors who are testing the wrong women or who are using the wrong tests for a virus that can cause cervical cancer.

We are now living in the day and age where there is not a single screening method for cervical cancer that fits all patients. How often one gets Pap smear now depend on one’s age and many other circumstances. However, a study found that a lot of doctors and clinics are not necessarily following guidelines from major medical groups in the performance of HPV check-ups.

Dr. Mona Saraiya, research head, said that those unnecessary tests that doctors perform waste money and can push women to get extra medical care that they don’t really need. Dr. Saraiya is also one of those women who are victims of this confusion. She said that her own doctor ordered test for HPV strains that are not related to cervical cancer.

For years, Pap smear is used to spot and remove precancerous cells or treat cancer cells among cervical cancer patients. Just recently, or after we found out that an HPV causes cervical cancer, doctors started using HPV tests to guide a patient’s ongoing care.

The study, however, found that 60% of doctors give Pap smear and HPV tests even to those women who are not yet old enough for the combined test. Our current guidelines say that those tests should only be given together to women above 30; otherwise, Pap smear is more than enough.

Pap smear only costs half of an HPV test and that is why Dr. Saraiya insists that doctors and clinics review their practices and follow the guidelines closely.