First steps in the development of an information and counselling service for women with an abnormal smear result.

A study was conducted to develop and evaluate an information leaflet and to investigate the acceptability of a counselling service for women with an abnormal smear result. A newly constructed information leaflet which addressed concerns related to receipt of an abnormal smear result and its medical management was compared for ease of readability with five other leaflets in current use and found to be superior. 144 women were given the leaflet either prior to a colposcopy examination or outpatient ablative treatment and randomly assigned to two recruitment strategies to examine the acceptability of a counselling interview. There was no significant difference between the two strategies and an uptake rate of 80% suggested that women welcomed such an opportunity. An interview evaluation schedule yielded a 98% positive response rate which indicated that the women were satisfied with the counsellor and found the interview useful. Significant differences emerged before and after medical intervention. Patients reported less anxiety, improved mood, and less distress related to the smear result and subsequent medical procedures immediately after the medical interventions (P less than 0.001).