Acceptability of self-collected human papillomavirus specimens in cervical cancer screening: A review

Abstract

Cervical cancer morbidity and mortality is an important public health problem around the world. Some of the barriers to cervical cancer screening include the embarrassment, discomfort, lack of privacy and time and cost associated with clinician-collected, clinic-based screening with cytology or human papillomavirus tests. Self-collection of a human papillomavirus (HPV) test has been found to be generally more acceptable, less embarrassing, more comfortable, more private and easy to do and preferred to pelvic examination for cervical cytology by many women worldwide. The most commonly reported limitation to self-collection is a woman’s lack of confidence in her ability to perform it correctly. Self-collected human papillomavirus tests have been shown to be as or more sensitive than cytology or clinician-collected HPV tests. With confidence-building education about self-collection, it is likely a viable method to extend the reach of screening in high and low-resource areas around the world.

Keywords: Cervical cancer, Self-collected, Human papillomavirus, Acceptability

Core tip: Self-collected human papillomavirus specimens using swabs, brushes or lavage devices have been found to be as accurate as clinician-collected specimens. With appropriate education to increase self-efficacy and confid ence in the quality of the collection and the results, self-collected HPV tests may improve cervical cancer detection among unscreened and underscreened women in high and low resource areas.