The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review

Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in adult women. However, many women do not undergo cervical cancer screening for the following reasons: fear, shame, physical limitations, cultural or religious considerations and lack of access to health care services. Self-collected vaginal smears maybe an...

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Main Authors: Natalia Serrano Doratioto Faria Braz, Noely Paula Cristina Lorenzi, Isabel Cristina Esposito Sorpreso, Lana Maria de Aguiar, Edmund Chada Baracat, José Maria Soares-Júnior
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier España
Series:Clinics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-59322017000300183&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Natalia Serrano Doratioto Faria Braz
Noely Paula Cristina Lorenzi
Isabel Cristina Esposito Sorpreso
Lana Maria de Aguiar
Edmund Chada Baracat
José Maria Soares-Júnior
author_facet Natalia Serrano Doratioto Faria Braz
Noely Paula Cristina Lorenzi
Isabel Cristina Esposito Sorpreso
Lana Maria de Aguiar
Edmund Chada Baracat
José Maria Soares-Júnior
author_sort Natalia Serrano Doratioto Faria Braz
collection DOAJ
description Cervical cancer is a major cause of death in adult women. However, many women do not undergo cervical cancer screening for the following reasons: fear, shame, physical limitations, cultural or religious considerations and lack of access to health care services. Self-collected vaginal smears maybe an alternative means of including more women in cervical cancer screening programs. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for cervical cancer screening. We selected articles from PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase that were published between January 1995 and April 2016. Studies written in English, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish that involved women between 18 and 69 years of age who had engaged in sexual intercourse were included in this review. The review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. Nineteen studies were ultimately evaluated in this review. Most of the included studies (n=17) demonstrated that the self-collection method exhibited outstanding acceptability among women with respect to cervical cancer screening, and only two studies indicated that self-collection exhibited low acceptability among women in this context. The acceptability of self-collection was determined subjectively (without standardized questionnaires) in 10 studies (53%) and via structured and validated questionnaires in the remaining studies. The results of our review suggest that the self-collection method is well-accepted and may therefore encourage greater participation in cervical cancer screening programs. However, additional studies are required to verify these results.
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spelling doaj.art-0e9079d4d01d4e33bd179d1f92661bd52022-12-22T03:37:28ZengElsevier EspañaClinics1807-59321980-532272318318710.6061/clinics/2017(03)09S1807-59322017000300183The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic reviewNatalia Serrano Doratioto Faria BrazNoely Paula Cristina LorenziIsabel Cristina Esposito SorpresoLana Maria de AguiarEdmund Chada BaracatJosé Maria Soares-JúniorCervical cancer is a major cause of death in adult women. However, many women do not undergo cervical cancer screening for the following reasons: fear, shame, physical limitations, cultural or religious considerations and lack of access to health care services. Self-collected vaginal smears maybe an alternative means of including more women in cervical cancer screening programs. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for cervical cancer screening. We selected articles from PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase that were published between January 1995 and April 2016. Studies written in English, French, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish that involved women between 18 and 69 years of age who had engaged in sexual intercourse were included in this review. The review was performed in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. Nineteen studies were ultimately evaluated in this review. Most of the included studies (n=17) demonstrated that the self-collection method exhibited outstanding acceptability among women with respect to cervical cancer screening, and only two studies indicated that self-collection exhibited low acceptability among women in this context. The acceptability of self-collection was determined subjectively (without standardized questionnaires) in 10 studies (53%) and via structured and validated questionnaires in the remaining studies. The results of our review suggest that the self-collection method is well-accepted and may therefore encourage greater participation in cervical cancer screening programs. However, additional studies are required to verify these results.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-59322017000300183&lng=en&tlng=encervical cancervaginal smear self-collectioncancer screeningmethod acceptancesystematic review
spellingShingle Natalia Serrano Doratioto Faria Braz
Noely Paula Cristina Lorenzi
Isabel Cristina Esposito Sorpreso
Lana Maria de Aguiar
Edmund Chada Baracat
José Maria Soares-Júnior
The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
Clinics
cervical cancer
vaginal smear self-collection
cancer screening
method acceptance
systematic review
title The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
title_full The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
title_fullStr The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
title_full_unstemmed The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
title_short The acceptability of vaginal smear self-collection for screening for cervical cancer: a systematic review
title_sort acceptability of vaginal smear self collection for screening for cervical cancer a systematic review
topic cervical cancer
vaginal smear self-collection
cancer screening
method acceptance
systematic review
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-59322017000300183&lng=en&tlng=en
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