Evaluation of the Pilot Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling Program in Workplaces in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

To examine cervical cancer screening (CCS) coverage and follow-up before and after the introduction of the workplace Human Papilloma Virus self-sampling pilot program (HPV-SS-PP) for female factory workers in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and to compare HPV-SS with conventional cervical cytology screening using the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear method.

A secondary analysis was conducted using the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) cancer registry, the HPV-SS-PP registry, and the IMSS affiliation database. The study focused on IMSS-affiliated working women aged 35-64 living in Ciudad Juárez. We examined trends in CCS coverage during the 38 months before and the first 12 months after the HPV-SS-PP. We also examined HPV prevalence and follow-up indicators for HPV-positive women.

The study found that 44.8% of factories and 42.7% of women accepted the HPV-SS-PP program, leading to an initial increase and subsequent slowdown in CCS coverage. The HPV-16/18 genotype prevalence was 5%, and the HPV-pool prevalence was 18.1%. Follow-up for cervical cytology among women testing positive for the HPV-pool was 39.7%. Colposcopy and histopathology follow-up for HPV-16/18 genotypes and HPV-pool were moderate to high (64.8 and 84.7% for colposcopy, 87.8 and 93.2% for histopathology follow-up, respectively).

The HPV-SS-PP requires improvements to increase working women's participation in CCS and ensure better follow-up of positive HPV results.