{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T18:14:08Z","timestamp":1790964848265,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,27]],"date-time":"2020-08-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1598486400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women and about 90% of cervical cancer can be reduced by regular screening. The Pap smear has been well in place as a primary cervical screening method since 1950s; however, coverage is still not optimal. This study explored the feasibility of HPV self-sampling in two under-screened population groups in Hong Kong (HK): never screened and not regularly screened females, to estimate the uptake rate and preference rate in the future. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study to explore the acceptability and feasibility of HPV self-sampling in two age groups: aged 25\u201335 and aged \u226545, which were reported as the highest proportion of the under-screened population in HK between 2017 and 2018. The study invited eligible women from an HPV study cohort to perform HPV self-sampling at home by themselves. The number of specimens returned from participants was recorded and used to determine the feasibility of HPV self-sampling in the community. The participants were asked to fill in the questionnaires before and after HPV self-sampling to indicate their attitudes, acceptability, and future preference for HPV self-sampling as an acceptable alternative primary cervical cancer screening method. Results: A total of 177 subjects participated in the present study and have achieved a good overall uptake rate of 73% (129\/177) who returned the self-collected cervicovaginal sample for HPV testing. Among the under-screened population, there was a higher response rate in aged \u226545 than those aged 25\u201335. The findings also revealed that women who were under-screened, including those who have never been screened, were more likely to prefer HPV self-sampling than those who had regular screening. This study found that the acceptability of HPV self-sampling was fairly positive among the respondents. The findings also indicated that HPV self-sampling was not only beneficial to enhance their health awareness but also to promote the cervical cancer screening uptake rate, especially among the under-screened or never screened populations. Conclusions: HPV self-sampling would be a solution to overcome the perceived barriers in clinician-based screening. The findings also indicated that it could be feasible to use as an alternative primary cervical cancer screening.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17176245","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,27]],"date-time":"2020-08-27T09:47:02Z","timestamp":1598521622000},"page":"6245","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Acceptability and Feasibility of HPV Self-Sampling as an Alternative Primary Cervical Cancer Screening in Under-Screened Population Groups: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9983-6219","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eliza Lai-Yi","family":"Wong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annie Wai-Ling","family":"Cheung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amy Yuen-Kwan","family":"Wong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul Kay-Sheung","family":"Chan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2019, May 30). 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