Study Personnel

Principal Investigator: Robert Edwards, MD

Co-Investigators: Roseline Okeke, MD, Jamie L Studts, Ph.D, Alfred Jenson, MD, Donald Miller, MD, Ph.D, William Helm, MD, Daniel Metzinger, MD, Dennis O’Connor, MD, Shana Bowling, Tonya Smoot, Ph.D, & Phillip Castle, Ph.D.

Graduate Students: Denise Thomas, B.A.

Study Synopsis:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections cause nearly all cervical cancer, leading annually to over 4,000 deaths in the US and nearly 300,000 deaths worldwide. With early detection and treatment, most of these deaths could be avoided.

One method of cervical cancer screening involves HPV-DNA testing in cervical cells collected by a physician during gynecologic examination. However, recent data suggests that women may be able to perform cervical self-sampling, potentially expanding access to screening.

This study compared women’s responses and attitudes following two HPV-DNA selfsampling methods: Dacron swab self-sampling (DSS) and tampon self-sampling (TSS); to physician-sampling. Participants (n=171) were women attending an urban colposcopy clinic. They were predominately Caucasian, single, and high school educated or less. After viewing an instructional video demonstrating DSS and TSS, participants performed cervical self-sampling followed by physician sampling. Participants completed surveys concerning preferences and attitudes regarding sampling procedures and cervical cancer.

Results showed that participants preferred self-sampling (74%) to physician sampling (25%; p<.001) and 98% would recommend self-sampling. Women who preferred physician-sampling reported greater cervical cancer worries (p=.01). Self-sampling device preferences were equally divided between DSS (51%) and TSS (46%). Women who preferred TSS reported greater confidence in cervical cancer screening (p<.05). No other sociodemographic, attitudinal, or sexual/reproductive history variables were associated with sampling preferences.

Publications:

1. Thomas, S. D., Edwards, R. P., and Studts, J. L., (2006). Patient preferences and attitudes toward HPV-DNA self-sampling.  Poster presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco, CA.

2. Thomas, S. D., Marmorato, J. L., Edwards, R. P., Okeke, R., Jenson, A. B., Miller, D. M., Helm, C. W., Metzinger, D., & Studts, J. L. (2005). Patient attitudes toward self-sampling for HPV-DNA testing. Poster presented at the Society of Gynecological Oncology, Miami, FL.