Table 2.

Salary, supply and equipment costs for Pap smears and collection devices (in 2020 US$) (adapted from Suba et al³⁵)

Category	Item	Cost per pap smear
Salaries	Cytotechnologist screening and interpretation of Pap smear	Cytotechnologist annual salary (in 2020 US$) ÷ 20 000*
	Pathologist interpretation of atypical Pap smear	Pathologist annual salary (in 2020 US$) ÷ 120 000†
Supplies	Modified wooden Ayre spatula	0.06
	Alcohol fixative	0.06
	Pap smear stains	0.07
	Cover slip	0.06
	25 mm × 75 mm glass slide	0.06
	Mounting medium	0.03
Equipment	Microscope	0.04‡

*Assumes a cytotechnologist screens and interprets 20 000 Pap smears per year without any other work responsibilities.

†Assumes 10% of all Pap smears screened by cytotechnologists are atypical and referred to pathologists who spend an average of 10 min interpreting each atypical smear and work 40 hours per week for 50 weeks each year.

‡Assumes a new microscope costs $8000 and is used only to screen and interpret 20 000 Pap smears per year for 10 years.