title: Results of a community-based cervical cancer screening pilot project using human papillomavirus self-sampling in Kampala, Uganda.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the feasibility of a community-based screening program using human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling in a low-income country with a high burden of cervical cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pilot study was conducted among 205 women aged 30-69years in the Kisenyi district of Kampala, Uganda, from September 5 to October 30, 2011. Women were invited to provide a self-collected specimen for high-risk oncogenic HPV testing by outreach workers at their homes and places of gathering in their community. Specimens were tested for HPV, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis. Women who tested positive for HPV were referred for colposcopy, biopsy, and treatment at a regional hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 199 women who provided a specimen, 35 (17.6%) tested positive for HPV. The outreach workers were able to provide results to 30 women (85.7%). In all, 26 (74.3%) of the women infected with HPV attended their colposcopy appointments and 4 (11.4%) women were diagnosed with grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-collection of samples for community-based HPV testing was an acceptable option; most women who tested positive attended for definitive treatment. Self-sampling could potentially allow for effective recruitment to screening programs in limited-resource settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. gina.ogilvie@bccdc.ca
authors.forename: Gina S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ogilvie
authors.forename: Sheona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Musa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sekikubo
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Biryabarema
authors.forename: Josaphat
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Byamugisha
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jeronimo
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Money
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003127:Colposcopy; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000379:methods; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D014454:Uganda; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology