Home-based self-collection of biological samples, including vaginal swabs: a mixed methods study for Britain's fourth National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-4)

A study of 2500 women found 99.0% agreement between first-void urine and vaginal self-sampling for HPV detection using Cobas4800, with 98.1% of participants preferring urine. Although conducted in a resource-limited setting which may limit generalisability, these results support urine as a viable sample type for decentralised, patient-centric screening.

Comparative efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of HPV DNA testing on first-void urine versus self-collected vaginal samples: a real-world study in a resource-limited setting — Bose et al., BMJ global health · source ↗

• urine
• first-void
• self-collection
• acceptability
• hpv
• sti

First-void urine and self-collected vaginal swabs showed similar sensitivity and specificity to clinician-collected cervical samples for high-risk HPV detection across two real-time PCR assays, supporting their use as decentralised, patient-collected alternatives; most women preferred first-void urine for regular cervical screening.

Comparative performance of first-void urine and self-collected vaginal swabs against clinician-collected cervical samples using 2 HPV real-time assays in Indian women — A et al., Journal of gynecologic oncology (paywalled) · source ↗

• acceptability
• first-void
• sti
• self-collection
• hpv
• urine

This randomised sub-study found return rates of 10.4% for Colli-Pee, 10.1% for FLOQSwabs and 7.4% for Evalyn-Brush. All devices yielded sufficient DNA with low invalid rates, but the authors noted the study was limited by low overall participation.

Comparison of three different hpv self-sampling tools - a subanalysis of the prospective, randomized hannover self-collection study — Hempel et al., Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · source ↗

• urine
• first-void
• colli-pee
• self-collection
• acceptability
• hpv
• sti

Self-sampling for HPV testing using urine and swab devices achieved high DNA detection rates, 92.1-99.7%, and very high participant acceptance, 99.1%, in a primary care population, supporting decentralised screening in low-resource settings.

Population-based self-sampling under primary care conditions - a possible approach for cervical cancer screening in Indonesia (IndoCerCa study) — Wenang et al., Reproductive health · source ↗

• urine
• self-collection
• validation
• acceptability
• hpv
• sti

Community pharmacy-based testing and treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhoea using self-collected first-catch urine was highly acceptable to users and successfully identified new cases, with pharmacists efficiently prescribing antibiotic treatment. This supports decentralised sampling by showing that asymptomatic STI testing can be delivered through self-collection in non-clinical settings with good uptake and patient satisfaction.

Implementation of community pharmacy-based testing and treatment for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Nova Scotia (Swab-Rx study) — d'Entremont-Harris et al., Journal of the American Pharmacists Association : JAPhA (paywalled) · source ↗

• urine
• first-void
• self-collection
• acceptability
• sti