Women's critical experiences with the pap smear for the development of cervical cancer screening devices

Arrivillaga, Marcela; Bermúdez, Paula C.; García-Cifuentes, Juan Pablo; Rodríguez‐López, Mérida; Neira, Daniela; Vargas-Cardona, Hernán Darío

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14289

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In addition to sociocultural and educational factors, modesty was another factor raised by the participants, who pointed to the difficulty of coping with a difficult and intrusive gynecological examination. The discomfort of the examination, particularly the use of the speculum, is regularly mentioned [ 47 ]. Our study appears to reinforce information suggesting that speculum-free sampling methods may represent a path toward increased CC screening [ 48 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acceptance of Self-Sampling by Women Not Regularly Participating in Cervical Cancer Screening in Areas with Low Medical Density: A Qualitative Study within the French CapU4 Trial

Le Goff,

Le Duc-Banaszuk,

Lefeuvre

et al. 2024

Cancers

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Cervical cancer (CC) was diagnosed in 3159 women in France in 2023, and 1117 died from it. Organized screening for cervical cancer is potentially very effective for participating women. However, reaching under-screened populations remains a major challenge. The present qualitative study explored women’s opinions on what discourages or encourages them to participate in CC screening and assessed the acceptability of two experimental strategies (urinary or vaginal self-sampling kits) to increase the screening coverage in three rural French administrative departments with low medical density and/or low screening participation rates. Forty-eight semi-structured interviews and four focus groups were conducted by a team of psychologists. Results showed that the participants accepted at-home self-sampling to reach non-participating women in medically underserved areas. However, they suggested that the type of kit sent should be adapted to the patient’s profile (embarrassment from earlier exams, cultural aspects, fear of invasiveness, etc.), and that kits should be simple to use (in understandable language taking sociocultural aspects into account). Women wished to be assured that testing on self-samples is accurate and needed information about further actions in case of a positive result.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%