Health care providers depend on self-report histories, especially in low-income communities where medical records may be unavailable or incomplete.

Two case-controlled studies compared medical records to patients’ self-reports of Pap tests. Patients reported having had Paps more frequently and more recently than indicated in their records.

In one study, low-income women were able to recall mammography screening somewhat more accurately than Pap screening. McGovern and colleagues found that the recall of mammography was uniformly more accurate than that for Pap tests. Perhaps one reason for this difference in accuracy is that mammography is a distinct procedure but the Pap test is similar to other gynecological procedures.