Self-Screening for Cervical Cancer Offered through a Digital Platform in a Region of British Columbia with Lower Screening Rates
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participant Recruitment
2.3. Eligibility and Intervention
2.4. Outcome Measures
2.5. HPV Testing and Results Dissemination
2.6. Post-Participation Survey
3. Results
3.1. Self-Screening Completion
3.2. Survey Results
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Total Eligible (N = 283) | Kit Returned (N = 207) | Kit Not Returned (N = 76) | p-Value * | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age when the kit was sent (median, IQR) | 45 (37–53) | 45 (37–53) | 44 (38–51) | 0.55 |
Screening history | 0.90 | |||
Due (3–4 years) | 193 (68.2) | 140 (67.6) | 53 (69.7) | |
Overdue (≥5 years) | 61 (21.6) | 46 (22.2) | 15 (19.7) | |
Never screened | 29 (10.2) | 21 (10.1) | 8 (10.5) | |
Years since last screened (median, IQR) | n = 254 | n = 186 | n = 68 | 0.82 |
3.9 (3.4–4.9) | 3.9 (4.4–5.0) | 4.0 (3.4–4.7) | ||
Time from when the kit was sent to when the sample was collected in days (median, IQR) | - | 22 (10–48) | - | - |
Total N = 202 | Due (3–4 Years) N = 140 | Overdue (≥5 Years) N = 42 | Never Screened N = 20 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
HPV Positive | 15 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
(7.4%, CI: 4.5–12.0) | (7.8%, CI: 4.3–13.6) | (7.1%, CI: 1.8–19.7) | (5.0%, CI: 0.9–25.4) |
Returned Kit and Fully Completed Survey N = 42 * | |
---|---|
Age at kit sent (median, IQR) | 48 (40–54) |
Ethnicity (n = 39) | |
Asian | 25 (64.1%) |
Indigenous | 1 (2.6%) |
White | 12 (30.8%) |
Other/Multiethnic | 1 (2.6%) |
Languages can comfortably communicate in (check all that apply) | |
English | 35 (83.3%) |
Punjabi | 11 (26.2%) |
Hindi | 10 (23.8%) |
French | 1 (2.4%) |
Mandarin | 1 (2.4%) |
Tagalog | 1 (2.4%) |
Other | 2 (4.8%) |
Prefer not to answer | 1 (2.4%) |
Household income in 2018 (n = 29) | |
Under CAD 30,000 | 2 (6.9%) |
CAD 30,000–59,999 | 6 (20.7%) |
CAD 60,000–89,999 | 7 (24.1%) |
Over CAD 90,000 | 14 (48.3%) |
Reasons for participating in CervixCheck (check all that apply) | |
Convenience | 27/51 (52.9%) |
Time | 20/51 (39.2%) |
Stress | 16/51 (31.4%) |
Comfort | 22/51 (43.1%) |
Other | 5/51 (9.8%) |
Experience of using the CervixCheck website | |
Did the CervixCheck website provide enough information about cervical cancer and HPV to answer any questions? | Yes |
39/45 (86.7%) | |
Did the CervixCheck website provide enough information about participating in the project? | Yes |
42/46 (91.3%) | |
Signing up online for a CervixCheck account was… | Easy/Very Easy * |
43/46 (93.5%) | |
It was easy to use the website | Agree/Strongly Agree |
37/44 (84.1%) | |
The language used on the website was easy to understand | Agree/Strongly Agree |
38/43 (88.4%) | |
Felt confident about the confidentiality and privacy | Agree/Strongly Agree |
36/43 (83.7%) | |
Were satisfied with the content and features of the website | Agree/Strongly Agree |
35/43 (81.4%) | |
Experience of HPV self-screening Among participants who completed self-screening | |
The instructions in the kit were easy to follow | Agree/Strongly Agree |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
Self-collecting † a cervical sample was easy to perform | Agree/Strongly Agree |
33/38 (86.8%) | |
I felt that I was collecting the sample correctly | Agree/Strongly Agree |
33/38 (86.8%) | |
The self-collection device was comfortable to use | Agree/Strongly Agree |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
Did you experience any pain or discomfort that discouraged you from self-screening? | No |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
Receiving results online Among participants who completed self-screening | |
How did you feel about receiving your screening results online through the CervixCheck website? | Satisfied/Very Satisfied |
33/38 (86.8%) | |
Did you understand your online results? | Yes |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
Future screening intentions and recommendations Among participants who completed self-screening | |
Assuming that both HPV self-collection and having a healthcare provider collect a cervical sample are equally safe and effective for testing, what would you prefer in a future screening program? | |
Self-screening | 32/38 (84.2%) |
Sample taken by doctor | 2/38 (5.3%) |
No preference | 4/38 (10.5%) |
If you had the opportunity, how likely are you to use self-collection again in the future for cervical cancer screening? | Likely/Very Likely |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
How likely are you to recommend self-collection to other women you know? | Likely/Very Likely |
35/38 (92.1%) | |
Preferred methods for receiving self-collection kits in the future | |
By signing up online through a website like CervixCheck | 12/51 (23.5%) |
By visiting my family doctor and getting the kit during my visit | 7/51 (13.7%) |
Automatically receiving one in the mail from the screening program when I am due for screening | 28/51 (54.9%) |
Having the option to request a kit be sent from the screening program when I am due for screening | 14/51 (27.5%) |
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Smith, L.W.; Booth, A.; Racey, C.S.; Smith, B.; Prabhakaran, A.; Dabee, S.; Hong, Q.; Niazi, N.; Ogilvie, G.S. Self-Screening for Cervical Cancer Offered through a Digital Platform in a Region of British Columbia with Lower Screening Rates. Curr. Oncol. 2024, 31, 5399-5411. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31090399
Smith LW, Booth A, Racey CS, Smith B, Prabhakaran A, Dabee S, Hong Q, Niazi N, Ogilvie GS. Self-Screening for Cervical Cancer Offered through a Digital Platform in a Region of British Columbia with Lower Screening Rates. Current Oncology. 2024; 31(9):5399-5411. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31090399
Chicago/Turabian StyleSmith, Laurie W., Amy Booth, C. Sarai Racey, Brenda Smith, Ashwini Prabhakaran, Smritee Dabee, Quan Hong, Nazia Niazi, and Gina S. Ogilvie. 2024. "Self-Screening for Cervical Cancer Offered through a Digital Platform in a Region of British Columbia with Lower Screening Rates" Current Oncology 31, no. 9: 5399-5411. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31090399
APA StyleSmith, L. W., Booth, A., Racey, C. S., Smith, B., Prabhakaran, A., Dabee, S., Hong, Q., Niazi, N., & Ogilvie, G. S. (2024). Self-Screening for Cervical Cancer Offered through a Digital Platform in a Region of British Columbia with Lower Screening Rates. Current Oncology, 31(9), 5399-5411. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31090399