METHODS: This paper reviews devices invented for different cervical cancer screening methods, which are Pap smear test, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or Lugol's iodine (VILI), and HPV (human papillomavirus)-DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) self-test in terms of functionality, performance in solving the limitations of screening procedure and additionally where applicable, the cervical cell collection efficacy and abnormality detection accuracy. The devices are either available in the market, published in research articles or published in international patent databases.
RESULT: The reviewed devices either simplified the screening procedure to improve the clinical efficiency and accuracy in screening, reduced the pain and discomfort experienced by women during screening procedures, or achieved both outcomes.
CONCLUSION: Many devices have been invented to improve the screening procedures which may potentially improve the uptake in cervical screening tests and encourage the organization of screening campaigns to reduce cervical cancer incidence.
Methods: Online databases (PubMed/MEDLINE/PubMed Central, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science and Google Scholar) were searched for all published eligible research articles in the past 12 years (as of January 2005-2017). A total of 17 research articles were included. The interventions were classified as 'individual level', 'community level' and 'cultural sensitive educations' which contains various interventions in their content as compared with usual care. A quality coding system was assessed using Cochrane checklists and rated by each researcher independently and the average score was given accordingly. This study was registered in PROSPERO 2017: CRD42017060405.
Results: The review dovetailed 17 studies. Ten studies (58.82%) were conducted in the United States, three in Iran (17.65%) and one each in Malaysia, China, Cameroon and Nigeria (23.53%). Almost all levels of the interventions boosted the screening uptake and the Pap test. However, the individual level health education interventions were prioritized in many of the studies.
Conclusion: The review indicated that health education interventions have immense contributions in boosting the screening uptake. However, the effectiveness varies with study setting, populations and the way of delivery. Therefore, the limited quality of the studies indicated that further research is required to develop a simple and effective intervention to boost cervical cancer screening uptake.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 258 community dwelling women from urban and rural settings who participated in health campaigns. In order to reduce the sampling bias, half of the study population performed the self-sampling prior to the physician sampling while the other half performed the self-sampling after the physician sampling, randomly. Acquired samples were assessed for cytological changes as well as HPV DNA detection.
RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 40.4±11.3 years. The prevalence of abnormal cervical changes was 2.7%. High risk and low risk HPV genotypes were found in 4.0% and 2.7% of the subjects, respectively. A substantial agreement was observed between self-sampling and the physician obtained sampling in cytological diagnosis (k=0.62, 95%CI=0.50, 0.74), micro-organism detection (k=0.77, 95%CI=0.66, 0.88) and detection of hormonal status (k=0.75, 95%CI=0.65, 0.85) as well as detection of high risk (k=0.77, 95%CI=0.4, 0.98) and low risk (K=0.77, 95%CI=0.50, 0.92) HPV. Menopausal state was found to be related with 8.39 times more adequate cell specimens for cytology but 0.13 times less adequate cell specimens for virological assessment.
CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that self-sampling has a good agreement with physician sampling in detecting HPV genotypes. Self-sampling can serve as a tool in HPV screening while it may be useful in detecting cytological abnormalities in Malaysia.