Archives of Public Health (Aug 2021)

Cervical cancer screening using HPV tests on self-samples: attitudes and preferences of women participating in the VALHUDES study

  • Hélène De Pauw,
  • Gilbert Donders,
  • Steven Weyers,
  • Philippe De Sutter,
  • Jean Doyen,
  • Wiebren A. A. Tjalma,
  • Davy Vanden Broeck,
  • Eliana Peeters,
  • Severien Van Keer,
  • Alex Vorsters,
  • Marc Arbyn

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-021-00667-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 79, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract Background Interventions to reach women who do not participate regularly in screening may reduce the risk of cervical cancer. Self-collection of a vaginal specimen has been shown to increase participation. The relative clinical accuracy of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing on first-void urine (with Colli-Pee) and on vaginal self-samples versus on cervical clinician-collected samples is being investigated in the VALHUDES trial. The current study assesses attitudes and experiences regarding self-sampling among women enrolled in VALHUDES. Methods Questionnaires from 515 women (age 25–64 years [N = 498]; 95%) declared that instructions for self-collection were clear, that collection was easy, and that they were confident about having performed the procedure correctly, for both urine and vaginal collection. However, a proportion of women found self-sampling unpleasant (9.5% [49/515] for urine collection; 18.6% [96/515] and 15.5% [80/515] for vaginal sampling with cotton swabs or plastic brushes, respectively). For their next screening round, 57% would prefer self-sampling whereas 41% opted for collection by a clinician. Among women preferring self-sampling, 53% would choose for urine collection, 38% for vaginal self-collection and 9% had no preference. Age did not modify preferences. Conclusion We conclude that both urine and vaginal self-sampling are well accepted by women, with a preference for urine sampling. Although the large majority of women are confident in their ability to perform self-sampling, four to five over ten women preferred specimen collection by a clinician. Trial registration The study VALHUDES was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT03064087 ).

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