Willingness to HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening and its predictors among women attending outpatient clinics in Meru District, Arusha Region, Northern Tanzania

Background: The ability for women to self-collect human papillomavirus (HPV) samples can potentially reduce the risk of cervical cancer and increase screening coverage. Objectives: To assess the willingness to HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening and its predictors among women attending outpatient clinics in Arusha region, northern Tanzania. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 706 women aged 18-55 years in Meru District Hospital and Usa River Health Centre from March to April 2019. Face-to-face intervies were conducted using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Stata version 14.0. The log-binomial regression was used to determine factors associated with willingness to self-collection of HPV samples. Results: Majority (70%) of the women were willing to self-collection of HPV samples for cervical cancer screening and was associated with attending Meru District hospital (PR=2.02, 95%CI 1.77-2.31); good knowledge about cervical cancer warning signs (PR=1.11, 95%CI 1.01-1.22), prevention (PR=1.13, 95%CI 1.04-1.20), and symptoms (PR=1.61, 95%CI 1.33-1.93); and having formal employment (PR=1.22, 95%CI 1.07-1.37). Conclusion: The majority of women were willing to self-collect HPV samples for cervical cancer screening. Self-collection is, therefore, an acceptable and viable means of screening for cervical cancer, which has great implications for Tanzania from a health policy perspective.

Documento: Chlamydia trachomatis: fundamentos de la importancia del cribado en el sistema público de salud / Document: Chlamydia trachomatis: fundamentals of the importance of screening in the public health system

Resumen La infección de transmisión sexual por Chlamydia trachomatis, tiene una alta prevalencia en Chile y otras latitudes, y se asocia a graves riesgos para la salud reproductiva de quienes se infectan. El cribado con autotoma de la muestra y detección mediante amplificación de ácidos nucleicos es la forma más eficaz de control sanitario. Hasta ahora, en Chile, el diagnóstico y manejo epidemiológico de C. trachomatis no se realiza en la salud pública. El Ministerio de Salud de Chile está haciendo importantes avances para iniciar esta implementación. La Sociedades Médicas se comprometen a participar en este proceso para lograr el eficaz control de esta infección en nuestra población.

The sexually transmitted infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis has a high prevalence in Chile and other latitudes and is associated with serious risks to the reproductive health of those who become infected. Screening with self- collected samples and detection by amplification of nucleic acids is the most effective form of sanitary control. Until now, in Chile, the diagnosis and epidemiological management of C. trachomatis is not carried out in public health. The Ministry of Health of Chile is making important progress to start this implementation. The Medical Societies are committed to participate in this process to achieve effective control of this infection in our population.

The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review

Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in adult women. However, many women do not undergo cervical cancer screening for the following reasons: fear, shame, physical limitations, cultural or religious considerations and lack of access to health care services. Self-collected vaginal smears maybe an alternative means of including more women in cervical cancer screening programs. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for cervical cancer screening. We selected articles from PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase that were published between January 1995 and April 2016. Studies written in English, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish that involved women between 18 and 69 years of age who had engaged in sexual intercourse were included in this review. The review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. Nineteen studies were ultimately evaluated in this review. Most of the included studies (n=17) demonstrated that the self-collection method exhibited outstanding acceptability among women with respect to cervical cancer screening, and only two studies indicated that self-collection exhibited low acceptability among women in this context. The acceptability of self-collection was determined subjectively (without standardized questionnaires) in 10 studies (53%) and via structured and validated questionnaires in the remaining studies. The results of our review suggest that the self-collection method is well-accepted and may therefore encourage greater participation in cervical cancer screening programs. However, additional studies are required to verify these results.

Evaluation of Self-collected Pad Sampling for the Detection of HPV In Cervicovaginal Secretion

BACKGROUND: Self-collection of secretion samples for HPV testing is a feasible alternative method for women who would decline to participate in population based cervical cancer programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of self-sampling for HPV in determining high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) using the pad, and we also wished to compare the results from samples collected by women themselves and those results from samples collected by physicians. METHODS: Fifty patients voluntarily participated in the sensitivity and specificity study at the university hospitals and 290 volunteers participated in the agreement study at local clinics. DNA was extracted and amplified using HPV L1 consensus primers for the direct sequencing of the pad samples. RESULTS: For the detection of HSIL, self-collected pad sampling showed good sensitivity (75.0%) and excellent specificity (100%). Two hundreds eighty-six samples from the pads and concurrent physicians?samples showed the agreement at 98.6% with the Kappa, 0.9622 (p=0.0000). CONCLUSIONS: A self-sampling method using the pad for the detection of HPV DNA is suggested to be an efficient method to access many women for screening easily, rapidly and conveniently. Testing the pad method? utility for a country- or large area-based mass screening study will be necessary in the future.