Introduction: In light of WHO’s call for elimination of cervical cancer, primary human papilloma virus screening through self-collection is a powerful tool that can improve screening coverage. India reports a very high mortality from cervical cancer. One of the main reason for this is a poor screening coverage of just 3.1% in our country. Self-sampling for screening of HPV DNA testing is one of the easiest and sensitive techniques and has shown promise in increasing screening coverage. This study aims to evaluate the acceptance and accuracy of self-sampling for cervical cancer screening among Indian women.
Rationale/Unmet need: We have come a long way since the development of the Operational Guidelines for the management of common cancers in India. However, the on-field implementation of early diagnosis of cervical cancer on a national scale is still a formidable task. Apart from poor knowledge about cervical cancer, infrastructural limitations, the scarcity of healthcare facilities, the most concerning issue is the low uptake of screening due to a myriad of social and psychological factors.
Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the efficacy of self-sampling versus clinician-collected sampling for cervical cancer screening in a North Indian tertiary care centre. The study included 100 participants, aged 30 to 70 years seeking outpatient care, each providing two samples. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests, including chi-square and ROC analyses, were employed with a significance level set at p < 0.05.
Results: The two methods demonstrated a statistically significant agreement, as indicated by Cohen’s Kappa (0.898) with p-value < 0.001. There was a small minority (2.2%) of cases where participants who tested negative for HPV DNA (Self) tested positive for HPV DNA (Physician).
Conclusion: The findings has potential implications for improving access to HPV screening, especially in cases where regular physician visits are challenging.
Suggestion: By integration of HPV based self-sampling as alternative primary cervical cancer screening method into the national cervical cancer screening guidelines of India, we can maximize screening coverage to significantly reduce cervical cancer-related mortality in India.
