title: Comparative community outreach to increase cervical cancer screening in the Mississippi Delta.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to increase participation in cervical cancer screening of under-screened women living in the Mississippi Delta, a U.S. population at high risk for cervical cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a door-to-door feasibility study of women living in the Mississippi Delta to increase participation in cervical cancer screening in 2009-10. Women (n=119) aged 26-65 years who had not been screened in last 3 years or more, were not pregnant, and had a cervix were offered a cost-free choice: clinic-based Pap testing or home self-collection with HPV DNA testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-seven women (64.7%) chose self-collection with HPV testing, of which sixty-two (80.5%) returned their self-collected specimen. By comparison, 42 women (35.3%) chose Pap testing, of which 17 (40.5%) attended their clinic appointment. Thus there was an almost 4-fold greater participation of under-screened women in self-collection with HPV testing than in free Pap testing (78.4% vs. 21.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that offering self-collection will increase participation in cervical cancer screening among under-screened populations living in the Mississippi Delta. Based on these preliminary results, we suggest that self-collection with HPV DNA testing might complement current Pap testing programs to reach under-screened populations of women, such as those living in the Mississippi Delta.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA. philip.castle@ascp.org
authors.forename: Philip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Castle
authors.forename: Alfio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rausa
authors.forename: Tameka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.forename: Patti E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Gravitt
authors.forename: Edward E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Partridge
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Olivo
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niwa
authors.forename: Kerry Grace
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Hormuzd
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katki
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Scarinci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D008922:Mississippi; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic