Pap tests are still underutilized by minority women due to limited awareness of cervical cancer screening (CCS), inadequate health care access, and cultural or religious beliefs. Human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling, a new CCS tool, has demonstrated potential to overcome some of these barriers. In 2021, women aged 30-65 years old were recruited across Minnesota to complete an online survey. The survey assessed five outcome measures related to HPV self-sampling: (1) awareness of test; (2) self-efficacy to conduct test; (3) location preference of test (clinic vs. home); 4) collector preference (self vs. clinician); and (5) preference of CCS strategy (HPV self-sampling vs. Pap test). Modified Poisson regressions tested associations between sociodemographic variables and outcomes. A total of 420 women completed the survey, of which 32.4% identified as Non-Hispanic white, 22.2% as Hispanic, 12.6% as Black/African-American, 28.3% as Asian, 1.9% as American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 1.4% as more than two races. Few women had heard of HPV self-sampling (6.5%), but a majority reported high self-efficacy to perform self-sampling (75.3%). Women also reported higher preferences for completing an HPV test in the clinic (52.2%) and for performing a self-collected HPV test themselves (58.7%), yet would choose a traditional Pap test over HPV self-sampling (56.0%). The low level of HPV self-sampling awareness, across all racial/ethnic groups, suggests a strong opportunity to promote widespread educational efforts around this new tool. Future HPV self-sampling research efforts should examine educational interventions targeted at healthcare providers to educate and encourage women on the importance of self-collection options.
Keywords: Anderson’s Behavioral Model; Cervical cancer screening; HPV self-sampling; Human papillomavirus (HPV).
© 2023 The Author(s).