title: Acceptability of self-sampling HPV testing among Thai women for cervical cancer screening.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acceptability of self-sampling HPV testing is confirmed worldwide. However, some cultural differences may affect this question. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of self- sampling HPV testing in Thai women.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred women aged 30-65 years with an intact cervix were included in this study. The participants were asked to do the Pap test by physicians and then brush type self-sampling instruments were assigned for self-collection and finally completed a questionnaire for acceptability evaluation. The questionnaire contains 2 parts. Part one covered general information of the participants and part two is the acceptability questions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 40.6 years. The incidence of high risk HPV detection in this study was 16%. The most common reason for doing Pap smear was for annual checkup. On the topic of ease of use, 85 % of the subjects agreed. Most of the participants (82%) reported that they felt less pain. However, reliability of the result was not satisfactory because 37% of the participants hesitated to rely on the results of the test. According to the price, if the price is less than 1,000 Baht (32.59 Baht = 1USD), 82% of the subjects would use it for their next screening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The acceptability of self-sampling device in this study is quite good but the reliability of the test was questioned by some of the participants. Moreover, the price of the test in Thailand may also influence the acceptability of the test.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand E-mail : dr_shina@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Shina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oranratanaphan
authors.forename: Wichai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Termrungruanglert
authors.forename: Nipon
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khemapech
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods; D013785:Thailand; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000379:methods*