Awareness and Acceptability of Self-sampling for Human Papillomavirus Testing among Women in Rural Delta State. [Abstract presentation].

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer is the second highest cause of cancer deaths among African women. In Nigeria, one woman dies of cervical
cancer daily (Ci & Makata, 2016). The most important risk factor for cervical cancer is infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV)
(Kashyap, Krishnan, Kaur, & Ghai, 2019). The disease can be prevented due to its long preclinical phase that can be detected by screening. The
World Health Organization recommends high-risk HPV DNA testing as the primary cervical screening approach in places where Pap testing has
not been established. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness and acceptability of self-sampling for human papillomavirus testing in rural areas of Delta State.
Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study design. The study population was women between the ages of 30 and 65years who are residents in the selected communities. The sample size was 230. The sampling method employed was a multi-stage sampling technique. The study instrument was a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Self-collection kits were given to participants who gave informed consent to provide vaginal samples for HPV testing. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Descriptive data were presented in frequency distribution tables. The number of women who provided vaginal samples, who prefer to use self-sampling in the future, and are willing to recommend it to a friend was analyzed to determine the level of acceptability of self-sampling.
Results: The mean age ± SD of respondents was 41.1 ± 8. 4years. Results from this study showed that 43(18.7%), 34(14.8%), and 2(0.9%) of the 230 respondents were aware of cervical cancer, human papillomavirus, and self-sampling for HPV respectively. 17(7.4%) respondents were aware of cervical cancer screening methods but only 6(2.6%) had ever been screened for cervical cancer. The acceptability of self-sampling was 92.6%.
Discussion: Cervical screening is crucial in the early detection and prevention of cervical cancer. Low level of awareness and knowledge of
human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, and screening has been implicated as one of the factors of underutilization of cervical screening
in Nigeria. Therefore, efforts to increase awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the perceptions of women about cervical cancer and screening through the provision of an educational intervention will be an important step in promoting the health of women.
Conclusion: With the World Health Organization's call to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2120, and the draft
elimination strategy target of 70% of the world's women being screened with a high-performance HPV test between 35 and 45 years of age by
2030 (Gultekin, Ramirez, Broutet, & Hutubessy, 2020), self-sampling is likely the only feasible way to scale up and realize this target.