Comparison of cytology and human papillomavirus-based primary testing in cervical screening programs in the Nordic countries.

The probability of any positive test result was higher in human papillomavirus testing than in primary cytology, even though the cross-sectional detection of a clearly positive test result was the same. Human papillomavirus testing can still lead to an improved longitudinal sensitivity through a larger number of follow-up tests and the opportunity to identify women with a persistent human papillomavirus infection. Further research on histologically verified precancerous lesions is needed in primary as well as repeat testing.