Home smear testing

seamus

Interesting results here:

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/new-home-kits-boost-smear-test-numbers-497474.html

Summary:

They took 3,000 women randomly who had received two reminders to go for a smear test. Split them in two - one half got another reminder, the other half received a home smear test.

In the home test group, nearly 100 did the test, another 60 booked a GP appointment.
In the reminder group, 70 women booked an appointment.

They're hailing this as some kind of triumph, but it does say more to me that only 10% of women in the home test group did anything about it. Nearly 90% of the women ignored it.

I would have assumed that most women would jump at the chance to do a home smear test and not have to visit the GP.

Thoughts?

lazygal

I'd go to my GP before a home test, because she does a gyno check as well as a smear and I get to have a chat about contraception, what about trying for a baby etc.

Malari

I've no problem going to a GP. I presume you are not expected to interpret the results yourself? There are so many stages in the development of changes in the cells I would prefer for a doctor to talk to me about what it means. Plus they will often do other checks/tests at the same time, so no, I wouldn't be interested in the home kit.

The_Morrigan

I think it's a great idea.
Some women (myself included) are very uncomfortable having this test done and one bad experience could stop you ever going back.

I mean they have paternity tests, std tests etc available that you do at home send off to a lab and get your results - no additional doctor fees.

Simples!

Now all you need is to be able to roll it out in Ireland and be able to claim it against your medical insurance

dearg lady

with the home testing kit, it would still need to be sent away for the results, so you'd get back the 'interepretaion' of the results. But I still think some women, myself included, would be wary of doing it wrong, and not getting a proper sample.

On the numbers who went back, yeah, I'm pretty shocked at how low the levels are! It usually takes me a month or two after my first reminder, but definitely it's worth doin. I woner why these women are choosing not to make appaointments

seamus

Malari wrote: »

I presume you are not expected to interpret the results yourself?

As far as I can tell, the idea is like home paternity tests; you take the swab yourself and stick it in a freepost baggie to send off to be tested. Ridiculously hassle-free.

Malari

seamus wrote: »

As far as I can tell, the idea is like home paternity tests; you take the swab yourself and stick it in a freepost baggie to send off to be tested. Ridiculously hassle-free.

But a DNA test is just swabbing your cheek; a smear test is a little more technical. I would be nervous I hadn't done it correctly. It's not the easiest place to reach yourself is it!?

LenaClaire

Malari wrote: »

But a DNA test is just swabbing your cheek; a smear test is a little more technical. I would be nervous I hadn't done it correctly. It's not the easiest place to reach yourself is it!?

This would be my concern as well. I would like to see the results of how viable the samples that got sent in were. I would worry people would just get a sample of other internal lining/materials rather than cervical cells.

Das Kitty

I'm not surprised by the low uptake for smears to be honest. I've never had a problem with them myself and have always had them when I should have, however, among my friends they're talked about like medeival torture. Not that many of them have even ever had one. I ran into a friend from school when I was last down at my GPs clinic and she was ****ting bricks over the smear, 30 and she never had one before.

My other friend had one only after some mid cycle bleeding and she had herself convinced she would get a bad result but she got the all clear.

Personally I wouldn't be bothered with a home test, sounds fiddly. I'd like to know it was done right the first time.

SheRa

The article states that 96 women completed the test. I wonder how many more tried to do it, found that doing it themselves was too awkward or painful and they didn't complete it. Could this experience have put women off from ever having one again (whether it be from a GP or a DIY job), I wonder?

I had a bad experience with a GP, but Id still prefer them doing it than trying to do it myself when Im not trained to do it.

The_Morrigan you mentioned that it would be great to be able to do it without GP fees. I was all set to tell you that its free under the free cervical smear scheme http://www.cervicalcheck.ie when I remembered that it doesnt cover under 25's (and is only free every 3 years, unless they are concerned with the results*) but all the same I think that its a good opportunity to let others know, just in case.

The_Morrigan

SheRa wrote: »

The article states that 96 women completed the test. I wonder how many more tried to do it, found that doing it themselves was too awkward or painful and they didn't complete it. Could this experience have put women off from ever having one again (whether it be from a GP or a DIY job), I wonder?

I had a bad experience with a GP, but Id still prefer them doing it than trying to do it myself when Im not trained to do it.

The_Morrigan you mentioned that it would be great to be able to do it without GP fees. I was all set to tell you that its free under the free cervical smear scheme http://www.cervicalcheck.ie when I remembered that it doesnt cover under 25's (and is only free every 3 years, unless they are concerned with the results*) but all the same I think that its a good opportunity to let others know, just in case.

Ah I'm over 25 and now I qualify, however, I have been getting them well before that and had to pay - I fecking hate them and will do the bare minimum with regards to frequency.

SheRa

Actually now that you mention it I started going for them long before I was 25 too.

Yeah they are crap alright. A real necessary evil. Though a tip that might help. When I mentioned it to my doc before how nervous I was about getting them done (even though I have had a good few done) she suggested a smaller speculum, which I didnt even know was possible. It made a big difference.

liliq

I'm 26 and have never had one! :eek:
I went to get one when I was about 21 or 22 as far as I can remember, and a few places point blank refused to do one because I was under 25.
Got the letters to go last year, but by the time I got around to organising an appointment (which wasn't until January this year) I found out I was pregnant... so am going to have to wait until probably this time next year to get one!

The Sweeper

I think it depends what the home smear test tests for.

I'd imagine a self-administered test where you try to swab your own cervix would be extremely fiddly.

However if the test kit is a Human Papilloma Virus test kit, it's extremely easy to use.

There are over 100 different types of HPV. About 40 of those types affect the genital area.

Genital HPV types may be "high-risk" types (such as HPV Types 16 and 18) that can cause cervical pre-cancer and cancer, or "low-risk" types (such as HPV Types 6 and 11) that can cause genital warts and usually benign (abnormal but non-cancerous) changes in the cervix. Both the "high-risk" and "low-risk" types of HPV can cause abnormal Pap smears.

Cervical cancer is caused by infection with certain types of a common virus, called human papillomavirus, or HPV. While other factors such as the oral contraceptive pill, smoking, a woman's immune system and the presence of other infections also seem to play a part, a woman has to have been infected with certain 'high-risk' HPV types before cervical cancer can develop. High risk types 16 & 18 are responsible for ~70% of all cervical cancers.

(Source: www.cervicalcancer.com.au)

Virtually 100% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus

(However not every case of genital HPV will cause cancerous or pre-cancerous cell changes, and millions and millions of people have genital HPV, so don't flat panic.)

There is a home-testing HPV kit that delivers an instant result. The kit appears as a plastic barrel with a long cotton swab inside, and one end of the barrel contains fluid that's contained behind a tinfoil barrier.

You remove the swab from the barrel and insert it in the vagina, and swish it around firmly to ensure you get a swab sample. It's no more difficult or uncomfortable than inserting a tampon, and in fact is easier because it's a swab - the same diameter as a cotton ear bud, but with a longer handle.

You withdraw the swab stick from the vagina after you've swished it around, and without touching the cotton tip, you replace it in the plastic barrel it came from. This time you push it in so that the cotton bud pierces the tinfoil barrier, and the swab tip is immersed in the fluid at the end of the barrel.

If the fluid reacts with the swab and turns a distinctive purple colour, you are positive for a variety of genital HPV. And it's a DISTINCTIVE purple colour so you really can't make a mistake.

Knowing you have tested positive for genital HPV demonstrates that you need to be having cervical smear tests to ensure that the HPV variety you have isn't going to cause abnormal cell changes in your cervix.

If the swab does not change colour, you do not have the HPV virus. If you don't have the virus, you are not at risk of cervical cancer.

I would far prefer to see women who are living like ostriches and refusing to have pelvic examinations because of any one of the broad variety of issues that mean women don't want to have an internal exam - I'd rather see those women use a self-administered HPV test. The result may be the impetus they needed to get checked, or the peace of mind to know they don't need to.

If you're sexually active with different partners you run the consistent risk of contracting HPV (and even if you're sexually active with one partner, unless you're certain he's sexually active with one partner too you need to keep testing).

Once a year, HPV testing at home.

I wish there was a massive campaign around it. Annual home HPV tests - can you imagine how they'd free up the resources in the labs if you could rule out non-HPV carriers having smear tests? Maybe then women with pre-cancerous and cancerous smear tests would get their results more quickly and be able to get into treatment more quickly.


/Edited to add: I know that the above-mentioned home test kit exists because I bought one myself and used it about six years ago. I found out about it because I was working in a job that involved sitting in on a sort of 'advances in health' conference that the NHS were conducting in the UK. I was so interested in the kit the health worker was describing that I bought one myself online and used it at home. I found it extremely easy to use - as easy as a home pregnancy test.

However in googling right now all I can find are the self-test kits that you have to post away for results. Will do some more searching and see if I can find the precise kit I'm talking about in a weblink.

lil'bug

jeepers smear tests aren't that bad!!
there would be no way i'd do a diy test I'd mess it up.
when it comes to something so important i'll leave it to the professionals

Snoopy1

I cannot understand women who put off the test.
Ive had pre cancerous cell, had to have 2 biopsy's, and im so thankful i kept up to date with my smears, as this would never have been caught otherwise.
I get them free every 6 months now, and while it is slightly uncomfortable, its over in seconds.

I wouldnt really trust a home kit, knowing the problems ive had, i would prefer to see a doctor.