The psychosocial burden of human papillomavirus related disease and screening interventions.
OBJECTIVE
(i) To assess the psychosocial burden of testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) related genital disease or of a HPV-related diagnosis; (ii) to compare an instrument specifically designed to measure HPV-related psychosocial burden with other generic quality of life (QoL) instruments.


METHODS
A cross-sectional design. Researchers recruited women from outpatient clinics at a major tertiary women's hospital and a sexual health centre who completed surveys within 3 months of receiving


RESULTS
331 women, 18-45 years, who had experienced a normal cervical Papanicolaou (Pap) result, an abnormal Pap result, biopsy confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or external genital warts (EGW).


METHODS
The HPV impact profile (HIP) designed to assess the psychosocial impact of HPV; two general health-related QoL surveys-the EuroQoL VAS and the Sheehan disability scale; and a HPV knowledge survey.


RESULTS
Response rate was 78%. Significant psychosocial impacts were found for women screened for, or having a diagnosis of, HPV-related genital disease. The largest impact was in women with CIN 2/3 and EGW. This HPV-related psychosocial impact was most sensitively detected with the HIP. Relative to generic measures of QoL, the HIP provided insight into the full range of psychosocial impacts of HPV testing and diagnoses.


CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians need to be aware of the potential psychosocial impact of testing for or diagnosing HPV-related genital disease, in particular CIN 2/3 and EGW. The HIP survey is a more sensitive measure of the psychosocial impact of HPV-related genital disease than generic QoL surveys.
Pirotta
M
M
University of Melbourne, Primary Care Research Unit, Department of General Practice, Victoria, Australia. mpirotta@unimelb.edu.au
Ung
L
L
Stein
A
A
Conway
E L
EL
Mast
T C
TC
Fairley
C K
CK
Garland
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S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*