Women's Health

General Gynecology

Understanding the Pap Test

Who is at high risk for cervical cancer?

A woman's risk of cervical cancer is directly related to the number of sexual partners she has had: the greater the number of partners, the greater the risk. The risk is also increased when a woman's sexual partner has had other partners. Recent studies show that half of all married women and from 70% to 80% of married men have had multiple sex partners.

The following groups of women have been identified by doctors as being at high risk for cervical cancer:

Those who have had more than one sexual partner

Those whose partner has had more than one sexual partner

Those who became sexually active before age 18

Those with a history of vaginal infections or genital warts

Those whose mothers took DES, a synthetic hormone that was used to prevent miscarriage between the years 1940 and 1971

Those who have had their first child before age 20 or who have had many pregnancies