UMMS Affiliation
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Graduate School of Nursing; Department of Pathology; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology
Publication Date
2016-06-09
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Services Administration | Health Services Research | International Public Health | Neoplasms | Women's Health
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In 2007, the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) implemented a screen-and-treat cervical cancer prevention program using visual inspection with acetic acid enhanced by digital cervicography (VIA-DC).
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 46,048 medical records of women who received care through the CBCHS Women's Health Program from 2007 through 2014 to determine the prevalence and predictors of positive VIA-DC, rates of same day treatment, and cohort prevalence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC).
RESULTS: Of the 44,979 women who were screened for cervical cancer, 9.0% were VIA-DC-positive, 66.8% were VIA-DC-negative, 22.0% were VIA-DC-inadequate (normal ectocervix, but portions of the transformation zone were obscured), and 2.2% were VIA-DC-uncertain (cervical abnormalities confounding VIA-DC interpretation). Risk factors significantly associated with VIA-DC-positive screen were HIV-positivity, young age at sexual debut, higher lifetime number of sexual partners, low education status and higher gravidity. In 2014, 31.1% of women eligible for cryotherapy underwent same day treatment. Among the 32,788 women screened from 2007 through 2013, 201 cases of ICC were identified corresponding to a cohort prevalence of 613 per 100,000.
CONCLUSIONS: High rate of VIA-DC-positive screens suggests a significant burden of potential cervical cancer cases and highlights the need for expansion of cervical cancer screening and prevention throughout the 10 regions of Cameroon. VIA-DC-inadequate rates were also high, especially in older women, and additional screening methods are needed to confirm whether these results are truly negative. In comparison to similar screening programs in sub-Saharan Africa there was low utilization of same day cryotherapy treatment. Further studies are required to characterize possible program specific barriers to treatment, for example cultural demands, health system challenges and cost of procedure. The prevalence of ICC among women who presented for screening was high and requires further investigation.
Keywords
cervical cancer screening, Cameroon
DOI of Published Version
10.1371/journal.pone.0157319
Source
PLoS One. 2016 Jun 9;11(6):e0157319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157319. eCollection 2016. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
PloS one
Related Resources
PubMed ID
27280882
Repository Citation
DeGregorio GA, Bradford L, Ogembo RK, Liu Y, Ogembo JG. (2016). Prevalence, Predictors, and Same Day Treatment of Positive VIA Enhanced by Digital Cervicography and Histopathology Results in a Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Cameroon. Open Access Articles. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157319. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2906
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Health Services Administration Commons, Health Services Research Commons, International Public Health Commons, Neoplasms Commons, Women's Health Commons
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For full list of authors see article.