Following the introduction of Cancer Care Ontario's cervical cancer screening guidelines, female patients were 50 per cent less likely to undergo screening for sexually transmitted infections, a new St. Michael's study has found. The research, published in Canadian Family Physician , tracked patient charts across five primary care sites at St. Michael's Hospital in the year before the guidelines changed and the year after. The study found that the guidelines not only reduced Pap smear tests by 60 per cent from 42 to 17 per cent , but also resulted in decreased screening rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia -- the two most common STIs in women aged 15 to 24 -- from 40 to 20 per cent.

Can a Pap Smear Detect STDs?



Pap smear - Mayo Clinic
Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases STDs. It is a bacterial infection spread through vaginal, oral, or anal sex with an infected person. It can also be spread from a pregnant woman to her baby during childbirth. Gonorrhea can infect both men and women. It is most common in young people, aged 15— Many people with gonorrhea don't know they have it.


Everything You Need to Know About STI and Pap Tests
You've probably been told that regular Pap smears are a must for, oh, as long as you've been going to the gyno. And maybe you were even shocked when the recommendation changed from getting a Pap at every single annual appointment to getting one once every three years. Pap smears fail to check for a host of other conditions that you may have while still getting "normal" results.



Back to Sexual health. Smear tests cervical screening don't include tests for chlamydia. Cervical screening doesn't include tests for chlamydia or other sexually transmitted infections STIs , such as gonorrhoea. If you want to be tested for chlamydia when you go for your smear test, ask your doctor or nurse. If you're sexually active and under 25, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme NCSP recommends you should be tested for chlamydia each year, or when you change your sexual partner.