Provider-Identified Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening and Perceptions Toward Self-Collection of Human Papillomavirus in Southwest Virginia

ObjectiveTo explore health care workers identified barriers to cervical cancer screening in rural Southwest Virginia. Design and SampleA descriptive study utilizing telephone-based structured interviews and conventional content analysis. All free and federally funded health clinics within a 75mile radius of Virginia's health Districts 1, 2, and 3 were contacted for participation in the study. MeasuresOrganizational information such as composition of clinical staff, services provided, cost of services, recorded compliance with current guidelines, and assessed individual barriers to accessing screening within the community. ResultsWith a 27% response rate, all but one clinic offered cervical cancer screening. The most common barriers to cervical cancer screening identified were lack of education and cost. The most important efforts to detect unscreened women and increase screening would involve clinic-based tracking, education and advertisements. Seventy percent of respondents felt that self-collection of HPV would be at least somewhat acceptable in their communities. ConclusionsPublic health nursing implications for the barriers of lack of education and high cost were found in this study. In Southwest Virginia, self-collection of HPV was perceived as acceptable by health care workers in the community, and might represent an avenue for increased outreach and education.