A 5‐day educational program for teaching cervical cancer screening using visual inspection with acetic acid in low‐resource settings

Objective To assess the effectiveness of an educational program in visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for cervical cancer screening among healthcare providers in 2 low‐resource countries. Methods A cohort of multidisciplinary healthcare workers in Uganda and El Salvador were recruited to the study. A pretest was administered before the intervention of a 5‐day educational program on VIA. A posttest was performed immediately after the educational program and again at a 6‐month follow‐up visit to assess retention of knowledge. Results In total, 42 (93%) of the healthcare workers who participated in the educational program completed the initial posttest evaluation, and 18 (40%) healthcare workers completed the 6‐month follow‐up evaluation. Mean test scores increased after participation in the training session (62% versus 81%; P < 0.001). The self‐reported comfort level for identifying cellular abnormalities also increased (2.1 versus 3.3; P < 0.001). At 6‐month follow‐up, the mean test score remained higher than pretest scores (79% versus 57%; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the initial and 6‐month posttest scores (80% versus 79%; P = 0.20). Conclusion The educational program in VIA provided healthcare workers with the tools potentially to decrease the morbidity and mortality of cervical cancer in the 2 low‐resource countries.