Women's knowledge and experience of atypical Pap results in a high risk community.

We sought to describe the knowledge of, understanding of, and follow-up after atypical cervical cytology among low-income, urban women. Of 554 women who had an ASCUS or atypical Pap result in 1996,215 (39%) completed a telephone survey. Many (19%) had poor follow-up. Thirty percent of women denied ever being told of abnormal cytology; Spanish-speakers were more likely to be unaware (43.2% vs. 22.7%, p < .01) of abnormal cytology. Cancer fear was quite high, as were misconceptions regarding cause. Many women were unsatisfied with the information they received regarding their cytology.