Alleviating psychological distress associated with a positive cervical cancer screening result: a randomized control trial

Abstract

Background The method of communicating a positive cancer screening result should seek to alleviate psychological distress associated with a positive result. We evaluated whether the provision of information through a leaflet would help reduce psychological distress in a randomized controlled trial. Methods The participants were women aged 20–69 years who were about to undergo cervical cancer screening at health centers. Before the screening, they received hypothetical screening results, with a leaflet (intervention group, n = 493) or without it (control group, n = 479), randomly. Their psychological distress and intention to undergo further examination were then compared between the intervention and control groups. Results After the intervention (providing a leaflet with hypothetical screening results), psychological distress appeared to be higher in the control group than in the intervention group among those who received a hypothetical positive screening result (odds ratio: 2.57, 95% confidence interval: 1.87–3.54), while 95% and 97% of those in the intervention and control groups, respectively, reported that they would undergo further examination. Conclusions Information provision might help reduce psychological distress but not hinder further examination among women who screen positive for cervical cancer. Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000029894. Date of Registration: November 2017.

Modern approaches to cervical cancer screening (a review)

“…Theoretically, the ideal response to the presence of HPV infection without a cytologically confirmed precancer would be to repeat testing at an interval that takes into account the possibility of self-elimination of the most infections, for example, after 2 years. However, in practice, it is difficult for a woman and her doctor/health care provider to endure this period, primarily because of the risk of losing the possibility of observation, and therefore, at present, retesting after about 1 year is most often recommended [16,32]. In this case, possible sorting methods can include both cytology [17,23,33,34], and immunocytochemical dual stain cytology, which can assess as positive or negative (p16 / Ki-67 dual staining) [35], and HPV genotyping in various configurations [16,17,36], and other promising new technologies, including an automated cytological method that be programmed to provide a severity score (presented by Schiffman et al at the 30th International HPV Conference in 2015).…”

Knowledge and Perceived Emotions Regarding an Anal Cancer Preventive Program in People Diagnosed With HIV

“…17 Furthermore, concern, lack of optimism about future prospects, and psychological anguish have also been described in the MSM population. 18,19 Some studies have indicated that the provision of information about medical procedures and correct communication of the results obtained during the care process helps reduce the stress perceived by patients participating in screening tests 16,20 and can improve awareness and information about AC. [21][22][23][24][25] The stress of these HIV-infected adults may also manifest itself in areas such as sexuality.…”