Comparative community outreach to increase cervical cancer screening in the Mississippi Delta

Philip E. Castle, Alfio Rausa, Tameka Walls, Patti E. Gravitt, Edward E. Partridge, Vanessa Olivo, Shelley Niwa, Kerry Grace Morrissey, Laura Tucker, Hormuzd Katki, Isabel Scarinci

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to increase participation in cervical cancer screening of under-screened women living in the Mississippi Delta, a U.S. population at high risk for cervical cancer. Methods: We conducted a door-to-door feasibility study of women living in the Mississippi Delta to increase participation in cervical cancer screening in 2009-10. Women (n= 119) aged 26-65. years who had not been screened in last 3. years or more, were not pregnant, and had a cervix were offered a cost-free choice: clinic-based Pap testing or home self-collection with HPV DNA testing. Results: Seventy-seven women (64.7%) chose self-collection with HPV testing, of which sixty-two (80.5%) returned their self-collected specimen. By comparison, 42 women (35.3%) chose Pap testing, of which 17 (40.5%) attended their clinic appointment. Thus there was an almost 4-fold greater participation of under-screened women in self-collection with HPV testing than in free Pap testing (78.4% vs. 21.5%). Conclusions: We found that offering self-collection will increase participation in cervical cancer screening among under-screened populations living in the Mississippi Delta. Based on these preliminary results, we suggest that self-collection with HPV DNA testing might complement current Pap testing programs to reach under-screened populations of women, such as those living in the Mississippi Delta.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)452-455
Number of pages4
JournalPreventive Medicine
Volume52
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US)
  • Cervical cancer
  • Cervical cancer screening
  • Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)
  • Health disparities
  • Human papillomavirus (HPV)
  • Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2)
  • Pap

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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