A recent study published in the journal Pain showed that adding a non-painful stimulus at the end of a Pap smear can reduce pain recollection. The study, titled “Adding a Nonpainful End to Reduce Pain Recollection of Pap Smear Screening: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” was conducted by Taiwanese researchers and involved 266 women.
The study involved an intervention group that received a modified Pap test, where the operator kept the speculum still in the vagina for an additional 15 seconds after rotating it back, instead of immediately removing it. Participants in the modified Pap test group were unaware of this additional step, as they were behind a privacy curtain.
The outcomes of the study included recalled pain after Pap smear screening, real-time pain, and 1-year willingness to receive further Pap tests. Among 266 subjects, the modified Pap group experienced lower 5-minute recalled pain than the traditional Pap group on a 1 to 5 numeric scale and on a 0 to 10 visual analog scale. Subgroup analyses showed that these results were not affected by predicted pain, demographic, or socioeconomic characteristics, but it was more apparent in postmenopausal women. Additionally, the modified Pap test attenuated 1-year recalled pain on both pain scales and increased the 1-year willingness grade to receive further Pap tests.
This technique could potentially be applied to many other painful procedures, including Botox injections, blood draws, vaccine injections, dental procedures, and more.
