Interventions to Improve the Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening with Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid: A Scoping...

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Early detection and management are essential. In this case, you can use screening methods such as pap smear, visual acetic acid inspection, and HPV DNA test. Healthcare professionals recommend the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) test for finding precancerous lesions. This is especially useful in resource-limited settings. This scoping review explored methods to increase cervical cancer screening for women. It focused on the use of the VIA test.

We did a systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and ProQuest. We used these keywords: (uptake OR participation) AND ("visual inspection acetic acid" OR VIA) AND ("cervical cancer" OR "uterine cervical neoplasm"). We used the EndNote app to manage data. First, we screened titles and abstracts. Then, we identified potential articles and checked the full text. We looked for non-relevant outcomes, insufficient data, and duplicate publications. We followed the Prisma framework throughout the process. Two reviewers selected and extracted the data.

A total of 39 studies were found to be assessing methods to increase VIA. Research reveals 6 ways to enhance cervical cancer screening using the VIA method worldwide. The six emerging themes for these intervention types include: health education and counselling (n=53%), cancer screening programs (n=12%), technology-driven interventions (n=10%), community and peer-based approaches (n=16%), cultural and language-specific approaches (n=4%), as well as training and capacity building (n=4%). Health education and counseling increase awareness about cervical cancer screening for women. This is especially true in countries with limited resources.

The main interventions obtained from this study were health education and counseling. Future screening should use digital health tools like mHealth. It should also boost community-based methods. Finally, interventions need to fit cultural and language needs. This way, we can increase participation rates.