Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling for Primary Cervical Cancer Screening in Under-Screened Women in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Siew-Fei Ngu, Lesley S. K. Lau, Justin Li, Grace C. Y. Wong, Annie N. Y. Cheung, Hextan Y. S. Ngan and Karen K. L. Chan
Additional contact information
Siew-Fei Ngu: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong
Lesley S. K. Lau: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong
Justin Li: Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Grace C. Y. Wong: The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Annie N. Y. Cheung: Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong
Hextan Y. S. Ngan: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong
Karen K. L. Chan: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening and the best means of service delivery, with a specific focus on under-screened women, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using three arms of service delivery (social media, school outreach and underserved outreach), we recruited under-screened women aged 30–65 years from two population groups: the general public and specific underserved communities, from whom self-sampled specimens and optional clinician-sampled cervical specimens were obtained for HPV testing. A total of 521 self-sampling kits were distributed, of which 321 were returned, giving an overall uptake rate of 61.6%. The response rate was higher in the face-to-face underserved outreach (65.5%) compared to social media (22.8%) and school outreach (18.2%). The concordance for HPV detection between self-sampled and clinician-sampled specimens was 90.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 85.1–93.8%; Cohen’s kappa 0.59 (95% CI 0.42–0.75)]. Overall, 89.2% of women were willing to have self-sampling again. In conclusion, HPV self-sampling is an effective method for cervical cancer screening and can be considered as an option, particularly in women who are reluctant or unable to attend regular screening. Various service deliveries could be considered to increase participation in cervical cancer screening.

Keywords: human papillomavirus (HPV); self-sampling; cervical cancer screening; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2610/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2610/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2610-:d:757306

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().