Acceptability & Accuracy of Cervical Cancer Screening Using a Self-Collected Tampon for HPV Messenger-RNA Testing among HIV-Infected Women in South Africa

Below:   Flow diagram of study recruitment, specimen collection, laboratory testing, and test results

Over 90% of women reported no difficulties self-collecting specimens and 82% were willing to perform the tampon-collection at home. Based on clinician-collection specimens, the prevalence of hrHPV mRNA in our study population was 36.7% (95% CI: 31.4%- 42.0%). There was no difference in test positivity between clinician-collection, 36.7%, and tampon-collection, 43.5% (p-value = 0.08). Using clinician-collection as the reference test, the sensitivity and specificity for hrHPV mRNA of tampon-collection were 77.4% (95% CI: 69.8-85.0%) and 77.8% (95% CI: 71.9-83.6%), respectively.

Tampon-based self-collection is acceptable to women and has similar hrHPV mRNA positivity rates as clinician-collection, but has reduced sensitivity and specificity compared to clinician-collection. The hrHPV mRNA prevalence in our study population is high, but similar to other high-risk populations, and highlights the need for improved cervical cancer screening. Further research into the optimal use of tampon-based collection as a cervical cancer screening tool is warranted.

Read more at: http://goo.gl/oKfWnc

By; Adamson PC1, Huchko MJ2, Moss AM3, Kinkel HF4, Medina-Marino A5.

1School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America; Research Unit, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
2Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
3Drs. Martin and Partners, Edenvale, Gauteng, South Africa.
4Research Unit, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa; Department of Family Medicine, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.
5Research Unit, Foundation for Professional Development, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa; School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

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