A Quasi-Experimental Study on the Comparison of Self-Sampling and Clinician Sampling for HPV DNA Testing for Cervical Cancer Screening in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: There are concerns on the reliability of self-collected cervico-vaginal samples compared with samples collected by clinicians for Human papillomavirus (HPV) deoxyribonucleic (DNA) testing. This study compared the quality of self-collected and clinician-collected cervico-vaginal samples among women in selected communities Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study, conducted among women aged 25–65 years in Ibadan, Nigeria. After consent was obtained, participants first viewed a four-minute animated video called the PRECISE-HPV video that explained self-collected and clinician-collected cervico-vaginal sampling procedures. The preference of individual participants for cervico-vaginal sampling was assessed. Each participant provided both a self-collected and a clinician-collected cervico-vaginal sample. After sample collection, preference for cervico-vaginal samples was reassessed. Associations between sampling method preference and socio-demographic characteristics were examined using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests. Changes in preference before and after sample collection and differences in HPV detection rates between self- and clinician-collected samples were evaluated using McNemar’s test. The agreement of high-riskHPV (hrHPV) detection between the paired samples was assessed with Cohen’s kappa coefficient, while DNA concentrations from the paired samples were compared using Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test. Statistical significance was set at p