Background: Timely detection of cervical cells infected with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) improves cervical cancer prevention. In Bolivia, actual screening coverage only reaches 33.3% of the target population aged between 25 and 64 years despite free cytology screening. Furthermore, 50% to 80% screened women are lost during follow-up. This study aimed at identifying factors explaining this lack of follow-up care.
Method: During the first phase, face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with HPV-positive women. Secondly, we explored the reasons for the non-adherence to the follow-up care: knowledge, perceptions and beliefs about HPV, as well as barriers to healthcare access, using a structured survey on Cochabamba women and healthcare professionals.
Results: Barriers to effective follow-up of the targeted populations were associated with health system shortcomings, including poor service delivery at the front- and second-line, health providers shortage, inadequate training, waiting time, high direct and indirect costs of care seeking and care, complex procedures to obtain HPV screening results and poor patient-provider communication. The follow-up was perceived as extremely stressful by the participants.
Conclusion: Improved communication on HPV and HPV-related cancers in terms of representation in the general population and among the health professional's population is vital to improve access for HPV infection follow-up care.
Keywords: HPV; cervical cancer screening; follow-up; health care services; low-income countries; women health.