Dataset Information

Challenges and opportunities associated with cervical cancer screening programs in a low income, high HIV prevalence context.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death among Cameroon women. The burden of cervical cancer is in part traceable to the inadequate understanding of socio-contextual determinants of access to screening and prevention opportunities. We explored multilevel individual, community and structural factors that facilitate or inhibit cervical cancer prevention in women at risk in a low-income, high HIV prevalence context.

Methods

We utilized an exploratory qualitative approach to obtain data through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews from May to August, 2018. A two-stage purposive sampling strategy was used to select 80 women and 20 men who participated in 8 focus group discussions and 8 in-depth interviews. The socio-ecological model guided data analyses to identify micro-, meso-, and macro-level determinants of cervical cancer screening.

Results

Micro-level factors including lack of awareness and knowledge about cervical cancer, lack of access to information, excessive cost of cervical cancer screening, low risk perceptions, and poor health seeking behaviors were major barriers for women seeking cervical cancer screening. Meso-level factors, such as social networks, socio-cultural norms, perceptions of the role of men and HIV-related stigma when screening is integrated into HIV care, also engender negative attitudes and behaviors. Macro-level barriers to cervical cancer screening included poorly equipped health facilities and a lack of national cancer prevention policies and programs.

Conclusion

In the context of the call for elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, our findings highlight challenges and opportunities that should be considered when implementing interventions to increase uptake of cervical cancer screening in low-middle income settings.

SUBMITTER: Adedimeji A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7890622 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Challenges and opportunities associated with cervical cancer screening programs in a low income, high HIV prevalence context.

Adedimeji Adebola A Ajeh Rogers R Pierz Amanda A Nkeng Relindis R Ndenkeh Jackson Jr JJ Fuhngwa Norbert N Nsame Denis D Nji Miriam M Dzudie Anastase A Anastos Kathryn M KM Castle Philip E PE

BMC women's health 20210218 1

<h4>Background</h4>Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death among Cameroon women. The burden of cervical cancer is in part traceable to the inadequate understanding of socio-contextual determinants of access to screening and prevention opportunities. We explored multilevel individual, community and structural factors that facilitate or inhibit cervical cancer prevention in women at risk in a low-income, high HIV prevalence context.<h4>Methods</h4>We utilized an exploratory qualitative approac ...[more]

PMID: 33602194

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Project description:ImportanceThe World Health Organization is developing a global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer, with goals for screening prevalence among women aged 30 through 49 years. However, evidence on prevalence levels of cervical cancer screening in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is sparse.ObjectiveTo determine lifetime cervical cancer screening prevalence in LMICs and its variation across and within world regions and countries.Design, setting, and participantsAnalysis of cross-sectional nationally representative household surveys carried out in 55 LMICs from 2005 through 2018. The median response rate across surveys was 93.8% (range, 64.0%-99.3%). The population-based sample consisted of 1 136 289 women aged 15 years or older, of whom 6885 (0.6%) had missing information for the survey question on cervical cancer screening.ExposuresWorld region, country; countries' economic, social, and health system characteristics; and individuals' sociodemographic characteristics.Main outcomes and measuresSelf-report of having ever had a screening test for cervical cancer.ResultsOf the 1 129 404 women included in the analysis, 542 475 were aged 30 through 49 years. A country-level median of 43.6% (interquartile range [IQR], 13.9%-77.3%; range, 0.3%-97.4%) of women aged 30 through 49 years self-reported to have ever been screened, with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean having the highest prevalence (country-level median, 84.6%; IQR, 65.7%-91.1%; range, 11.7%-97.4%) and those in sub-Saharan Africa the lowest prevalence (country-level median, 16.9%; IQR, 3.7%-31.0%; range, 0.9%-50.8%). There was large variation in the self-reported lifetime prevalence of cervical cancer screening among countries within regions and among countries with similar levels of per capita gross domestic product and total health expenditure. Within countries, women who lived in rural areas, had low educational attainment, or had low household wealth were generally least likely to self-report ever having been screened.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study of data collected in 55 low- and middle-income countries from 2005 through 2018, there was wide variation between countries in the self-reported lifetime prevalence of cervical cancer screening. However, the median prevalence was only 44%, supporting the need to increase the rate of screening.

Project description:BackgroundThe challenges of chronic disease self-management in multimorbidity are well-known. Shippee's Cumulative Complexity Model provides useful insights on burden and capacity factors affecting healthcare engagement and outcomes. This model reflects patient experience, but healthcare providers are reported to have a limited understanding of these concepts. Understanding burden and capacity is important for clinicians, since they can influence these factors both positively and negatively. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of healthcare providers using burden and capacity frameworks previously used only in patient studies.MethodsParticipants were twelve nursing and allied health providers providing chronic disease self-management support in low-income primary care settings. We used written vignettes, constructed from interviews with multimorbid patients at the same health centres, to explore how clinicians understood burden and capacity. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis was by the framework method, using Normalisation Process Theory to explore burden and the Theory of Patient Capacity to explore capacity.ResultsThe framework analysis categories fitted the data well. All participants clearly understood capacity and were highly conscious of social (e.g. income, family demands), and psychological (e.g. cognitive, mental health) factors, in influencing engagement with healthcare. Not all clinicians recognised the term 'treatment burden', but the concept that it represented was familiar, with participants relating it both to specific treatment demands and to healthcare system deficiencies. Financial resources, health literacy and mental health were considered to have the biggest impact on capacity. Interaction between these factors and health system barriers (leading to increased burden) was a common and challenging occurrence that clinicians struggled to deal with.ConclusionsThe ability of health professionals to recognise burden and capacity has been questioned, but participants in this study displayed a level of understanding comparable to the patient literature. Many of the challenges identified were related to health system issues, which participants felt powerless to address. Despite their awareness of burden and capacity, health providers continued to operate within a single-disease model, likely to increase burden. These findings have implications for health system organisation, particularly the need for alternative models of care in multimorbidity.

Project description:BackgroundThe WHO Director-General has issued a call for action to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. To help inform global efforts, we modelled potential human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening scenarios in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) to examine the feasibility and timing of elimination at different thresholds, and to estimate the number of cervical cancer cases averted on the path to elimination.MethodsThe WHO Cervical Cancer Elimination Modelling Consortium (CCEMC), which consists of three independent transmission-dynamic models identified by WHO according to predefined criteria, projected reductions in cervical cancer incidence over time in 78 LMICs for three standardised base-case scenarios: girls-only vaccination; girls-only vaccination and once-lifetime screening; and girls-only vaccination and twice-lifetime screening. Girls were vaccinated at age 9 years (with a catch-up to age 14 years), assuming 90% coverage and 100% lifetime protection against HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58. Cervical screening involved HPV testing once or twice per lifetime at ages 35 years and 45 years, with uptake increasing from 45% (2023) to 90% (2045 onwards). The elimination thresholds examined were an average age-standardised cervical cancer incidence of four or fewer cases per 100 000 women-years and ten or fewer cases per 100 000 women-years, and an 85% or greater reduction in incidence. Sensitivity analyses were done, varying vaccination and screening strategies and assumptions. We summarised results using the median (range) of model predictions.FindingsGirls-only HPV vaccination was predicted to reduce the median age-standardised cervical cancer incidence in LMICs from 19·8 (range 19·4-19·8) to 2·1 (2·0-2·6) cases per 100 000 women-years over the next century (89·4% [86·2-90·1] reduction), and to avert 61·0 million (60·5-63·0) cases during this period. Adding twice-lifetime screening reduced the incidence to 0·7 (0·6-1·6) cases per 100 000 women-years (96·7% [91·3-96·7] reduction) and averted an extra 12·1 million (9·5-13·7) cases. Girls-only vaccination was predicted to result in elimination in 60% (58-65) of LMICs based on the threshold of four or fewer cases per 100 000 women-years, in 99% (89-100) of LMICs based on the threshold of ten or fewer cases per 100 000 women-years, and in 87% (37-99) of LMICs based on the 85% or greater reduction threshold. When adding twice-lifetime screening, 100% (71-100) of LMICs reached elimination for all three thresholds. In regions in which all countries can achieve cervical cancer elimination with girls-only vaccination, elimination could occur between 2059 and 2102, depending on the threshold and region. Introducing twice-lifetime screening accelerated elimination by 11-31 years. Long-term vaccine protection was required for elimination.InterpretationPredictions were consistent across our three models and suggest that high HPV vaccination coverage of girls can lead to cervical cancer elimination in most LMICs by the end of the century. Screening with high uptake will expedite reductions and will be necessary to eliminate cervical cancer in countries with the highest burden.FundingWHO, UNDP, UN Population Fund, UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Program of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé, Compute Canada, National Health and Medical Research Council Australia Centre for Research Excellence in Cervical Cancer Control.

Dataset Information

Challenges and opportunities associated with cervical cancer screening programs in a low income, high HIV prevalence context.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Challenges and opportunities associated with cervical cancer screening programs in a low income, high HIV prevalence context.

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