Development and pilot evaluation of a decision aid for modern cervical screening

The aim of this study was to develop a cervical screening decision aid for countries which could choose between self- or clinician-collected sample for primary Human Papillomavirus (HPV) based cervical screening. A structured development process based on the International Patient Decision Aid Standards was used, including a systematic literature search for existing decision aids, a medical literature review, structured development of the decision aid which includes many iterative revisions, focus group discussions with screen eligible women, internal and external peer review by Gynaecology and non-Gynaecology experts, and finally field tested among 360 women. Most women considered the decision aid clear, helpful in decision making and would recommend it to others. This systematically developed decision aid appears to be suitable for wider use.

Cervical screening; Decision aid; Self-collection; Cervical sampling; Clinician-collected; Human papillomavirus; Cancer of the cervix; Gynaecology; Women’s health

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