2026 · BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · open access
Evaluation of the Quality and Suitability of Self-Collected Vaginal and Urine Samples for Human Papillomavirus Testing: A Prospective Matched Study
Chu et al.
The finding, in our words
For decentralised testing, a study found dry vaginal self-samples using Copan FLOQSwabs stored up to two weeks at room temperature maintain DNA quality. However, first-void urine collected with the Colli-Pee device may be less sensitive for HPV detection, showing lower positivity and higher cycle threshold values, median Ct 30 versus 27 for other samples.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This meta-analysis found that self-collected urine samples for HPV testing had lower sensitivity for detecting high-grade lesions compared to physician-collected cervical specimens. The use of a first-void collection device such as Colli-Pee was associated with marginally higher sensitivity than general urine sampling.
The OncoPredict HPV Quantitative Typing assay achieved clinical sensitivity ratios of 0.99 for urine and 1.00 for vaginal self-samples versus clinician-collected cervical samples for detecting CIN2+, and after cut-off optimisation showed similar accuracy on self-collected and cervical specimens, supporting decentralised cervical screening through urine self-collection with Colli-Pee.
Two dry vaginal self-sampling devices and a first-void urine collector detected over 90% of high-grade cervical lesions (CIN 3+) and all invasive cancers, with sensitivity comparable to clinician-taken smears. Participants found the devices easy to use and self-sampling was well accepted, which could improve uptake of cervical screening.
In women with HPV, first-void urine collected with the Colli-Pee device had higher HPV DNA concentrations than urine collected with a standard cup, although this advantage disappeared at high HPV DNA loads. Timing of collection (morning versus later) did not affect HPV DNA copies.
This meta-analysis found that HPV testing using self-collected vaginal and urine samples showed sensitivities of 88.6% and 81% for detecting cervical precancer. Using a standardised device for first-void urine increased sensitivity to 86.6%, supporting decentralised patient-centric screening, though data on specificity and specific commercial devices were not consistently reported.