Self-collected glans/meatal 'dry' swab specimen and NAAT technology detects Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae - implications for public policy changes

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.

Evaluation of the Quality and Suitability of Self-Collected Vaginal and Urine Samples for Human Papillomavirus Testing: A Prospective Matched Study — Chu et al., BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · source ↗

• colli-pee
• first-void
• sti
• self-collection
• dried
• hpv
• urine
• validation

Dried urine strips demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy and stability for chlamydia and gonorrhea detection compared to standard urine samples. This method supports decentralised screening by allowing self-collection and ambient temperature transport without compromising sample integrity.

Development and evaluation of dried urine strip for genital chlamydia and gonorrhea testing — Gibbons et al., Journal of clinical microbiology · source ↗

• sti
• self-collection
• dried
• urine
• validation
• genotyping

The pilot study provided evidence that a dry-stored, self-collected vaginal swab could assist detection of Chlamydia trachomatis when compared with clinician-collected discharge, first-catch urine and blood serology, potentially reducing privacy barriers and removing cold-chain requirements for screening in remote areas.

A pilot clinical validation study of a self-collected vaginal swab device for the detection of <i>chlamydia trachomatis</i> in women — Muljadi et al., Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · source ↗

• blood
• sti
• self-collection
• dried
• serology
• urine
• validation

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.

Diagnostic Performance of HPV Testing Using Self-Collected Urine and Vaginal Samples for Detecting Cervical Precancer or Worse: A Meta-Analysis — Hsiao et al., The journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research (paywalled) · source ↗

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

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.

Accuracy of HPV Testing Using Self-collected Urine Compared With Physician-collected Cervical Specimen for HSIL or Worse — Chen et al., Journal of lower genital tract disease (paywalled) · source ↗

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