iarjmsIARJMSIARJMS2708-359410.47310/iarjms.2021.v02i02.003A comparative evaluation of cervical cytological findings in urban and rural population of Lucknow, IndiaJataSMisraUmaSinghAnandN.SrivastavaShivaniSinghCytologist, Department of Pathology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, India.Prof. and Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, K.G Medical University, Lucknow, India.Director Research, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, India.Research Assistant, Department of Pathology, Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Era University, Lucknow, India.As the living conditions are entirely different under rural and urban setup in India, this may have impact on the occurrence of precancerous changes in the cervix. It was thought interesting to compare the cytological findings in two cohorts in relation to different risk factors of the disease. The rural women were recruited from the ongoing rural cervical cancer screening program in the western region of Lucknow for last seven years while the urban cohort was derived from the 35 years of screening of outdoor patients of the Department of Gynaecology KG Medical University, Lucknow. Cytological findings revealed high incidence of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) in the rural women than in their urban counterparts with all the different risk factors of the disease like gynecological symptoms, clinical lesions of cervix, age and parity. The non-viral sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) were commonly seen in both cohorts than viral STDs. Illiteracy and poverty in the rural women make them vulnerable to the development of carcinoma cervix due to poor personal genital hygiene leading to persistent vaginal infections. There is urgent necessity of creating awareness among rural women regarding hazards and risk factors of cervical cancer and importance of cytology in the early detection of the disease. This can be achieved through educating the rural women by health workers and regular organization of camps to detect SIL, the adequate treatment of which will check the incidence of cervical cancer and associated mortality.