HPV-DNA testing from self-sampled menstrual blood using M-strip: A proof-of-concept study on feasibility & acceptance of a novel biosampling method

Non-invasive HPV self-sampling kits such as first-void urine and menstrual blood devices may increase screening participation among non-Western ethnic minority women by addressing cultural beliefs about virginity and body autonomy.

"Well, that Was Pretty Clever!"-Ethnic Minority Women's Views on HPV Self-Sampling Devices for Cervical Cancer Screening: Attitudes to Brushes, First-Void Urine, and Menstrual Blood Devices — Hald et al., Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · source ↗

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

In a population-based study of 566 women in Puerto Rico, self-collection of anal, cervical, and oral specimens for HPV testing achieved an 83.4% response rate with high acceptability: over 98% of participants understood the methods and more than 50% felt comfortable with them. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised, patient-centric HPV surveillance using self-collection, supporting wider implementation of remote STI screening programmes.

Methods in HPV Surveillance: Experiences from a Population-Based Study of HPV Infection among Women in the San Juan Metropolitan Area of Puerto Rico — Ortiz et al., Puerto Rico health sciences journal (paywalled) · source ↗

• acceptability
• blood
• sti
• self-collection
• hpv

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