A Comparison of the Efficiency of Self-Sampling and Healthcare Professional Collection Practices for HPV DNA-Based Cervical Cancer Screenings in Kamphaeng Phet Province

Abstract

Cervical cancer screening by HPV DNA testing adopted HPV self-sampling collection method can be an alternative option to allow Thai women to be able to get more access to the cervical cancer screening test.  The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of healthcare professionals and self-collection practices for HPV DNA testing for cervical cancer screening in Kamphaeng Phet Province. Data used was the relevant information retrieved from medical records. The sample of study were 16,104 patients who had the HPV DNA test done from June 2021 to May 2023 with results of cervical cancer screening. Of which, 15,109 cases the specimens collected by the health care personals and by self-collected 995 cases. The research tool was the data collection form included the HPV DNA testing (either HPV-16, HPV-18 or other HPVs) and the colposcopy test results. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square test were used to analyze the data.

The Results: It was found that women received HPV DNA testing services they had an average age of 47.5 years. The group being studied consisted of 15,109 individuals who had their samples collected by healthcare professionals and 995 individuals who were allowed to self-collect their samples. There were a total 908 cases (5.64%) HPV infections detected across both groups. The most common HPV variants found were the non-HPV-16 and HPV-18 types, followed by HPV-16. The Fisher’s exact test of both practices was not statistically different (p value = 1.00), there was a 99.94% acceptability of results reported for the specimens collected by healthcare professionals, whereas a 100% acceptability was reported for self-collected specimens. The results of the comparison of the efficiency of HPV DNA-base specimen collection revealed that there was not a statistical difference between the two specimen collection practices  (p value = 0.684). In addition, the colposcopy results of the same sample groups also showed that the results of the two collection practices were not statistically different (p value = 0.362). Therefore, the results support that cervical cancer screening rates might also benefit from the application of both specimen-collecting practices. Therefore, the self-collection of specimens is a viable option and has the potential to be used to increase specimen collection practice options for cervical cancer screening.