Value of a catch-up HPV test in women aged 65 and above: A Danish population-based nonrandomized intervention study

by Mette Tranberg, Lone Kjeld Petersen, Anne Hammer, Miriam Elfstr öm, Jan Blaakær, Susanne Fogh Jørgensen, Mary Holten Bennetsen, Jørgen Skov Jensen, Berit Andersen BackgroundHigh-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) test is replacing cytology as the primary cervical cancer screening test due to superior sensitivity, but in most countries women ≥65 years have never had an HPV test despite they account for around 50% of cervical cancer deaths. We explored the effect of a catch-up HPV test among 65- to 69-year-old women without previous record of HPV-based screening. Methods and findingsThis population-based nonrandomized intervention study (quasi-experimental design) included Danish women aged 65 to 69 with no record of cervical cancer screening in the last ≥5.5 years and no HPV-exit test at age 60 to 64 at the time of study inclusion. Eligible women residing in the Central Denmark Region were invited for HPV screening either by attending clinician-based sampling or requesting a vaginal self-sampling kit (intervention group,n = 11,192). Women residing in the remaining four Danish regions received standard care which was the opportunity to have a cervical cytology collected for whatever reason (reference group,n = 33,387). Main outcome measures were detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grade 2 or worse (CIN2+) per 1,000 women eligible for the screening offer and the benefit –harm ratio of the intervention and standard practice measured as the number of co...
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research