Equal prevalence of severe cervical dysplasia by HPV self-sampling and by midwife-collected samples for primary HPV screening: a randomised controlled trial

Objectives HPV self-sampling is an option for cervical screening. The aim of this randomised study was to investigate the compliance, prevalence of HPV, and prevalence of severe dysplasia in a vaginal self-sampling group in comparison to cervical samples collected by midwives (control arm). The hypothesis was that there would be no difference between vaginal self-sampling and cervical sampling to find high-grade cervical dysplasia or cancer. Methods Vaginal HPV self-sampling kits were sent by regular mail to 14 765 randomly selected women aged 30–64 years old in the screening programme. HPV-positive women were invited for a follow-up examination by their midwife in which they provided a cervical sample for cytological and HPV co-testing. The control arm consisted of 14 839 women who met the same inclusion criteria and were invited to have cervical sampling by midwives for primary HPV screening. All HPV samples were analysed by the Aptima HPV assay (Hologic Inc.). Main results The participation rate was 33.5% in the self-sampling arm and 47.5% in the cervical sampling arm, (P
Source: European Journal of Cancer Prevention - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Gynecological Cancer Source Type: research