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A pilot study of community‐based self‐sampling for HPV testing among non‐attenders of cervical cancer screening programs in El Salvador
Author(s) -
Laskow Bari,
Figueroa Ruben,
Alfaro Karla M.,
Scarinci Isabel C.,
Conlisk Elizabeth,
Maza Mauricio,
Chang Judy C.,
Cremer Miriam
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.12204
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical cancer , sampling (signal processing) , test (biology) , cervical cancer screening , family medicine , gynecology , cancer , demography , gerontology , paleontology , filter (signal processing) , sociology , computer science , computer vision , biology
Objective To establish the feasibility and acceptability of home‐based HPV self‐sampling among women who did not attend screening appointments in rural El Salvador. Methods In a cross‐sectional study, data were collected from May 2015 to January 2016 among 60 women aged 30–59 years who were not pregnant, provided informed consent, had not been screened in 2 years, had no history of pre‐cancer treatment, and did not attend a scheduled HPV screening. Participants completed questionnaires and received educational information before being given an opportunity to self‐sample with the Hybrid Capture 2 High Risk HPV DNA Test. Results Self‐sampling was accepted by 41 (68%) participants. Almost all women chose to self‐sample because the process was easy (40/41, 98%), could be performed at home (40/41, 98%), and saved time (38/41, 93%), and because they felt less embarrassed (33/41, 80%). The most common reason for declining the test was not wanting to be screened (8/19, 42%). The prevalence of high‐risk HPV types among women who accepted self‐sampling was 17% (7/41). Conclusion For most women, community‐based self‐sampling was an acceptable way to participate in a cervical cancer screening program. In low‐resource countries, incorporating community‐based self‐sampling into screening programs might improve coverage of high‐risk women.