Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing: a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme

K. F. Bennett; J. Waller; E. McBride; A. S. Forster; G. Di Gessa; H. Kitchener; L. A.V. Marlow

doi:10.1111/1471-0528.16460

Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing: a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme

K. F. Bennett, J. Waller, E. McBride, A. S. Forster, G. Di Gessa, H. Kitchener, L. A.V. Marlow^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To assess psychosexual distress over a 12-month period among women receiving different human papillomavirus (HPV) and cytology results in the context of the English HPV primary screening pilot. Design: Longitudinal, between-group study. Setting: Five sites in England where primary HPV testing was piloted. Population: Women aged 24–65 years (n = 1133) who had taken part in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. Methods: Women were sent a postal questionnaire soon after receiving their screening results (baseline) and 6 and 12 months later. Data were analysed using linear regression models to compare psychosexual outcomes between groups receiving six possible combinations of HPV and cytology screening results, including a control group with normal cytology and no HPV test. Main outcome measures: Psychosexual distress, assessed using six items from the Psychosocial Effects of Abnormal Pap Smears Questionnaire (PEAPS-Q). Results: At all time points, there was an association between screening result group and psychosexual distress (all P < 0.001). At baseline, mean psychosexual distress score (possible range: 1–5) was significantly higher among women with HPV and normal cytology (B = 1.15, 95% CI 0.96–1.34), HPV and abnormal cytology (B = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.78–1.27) and persistent HPV (B = 0.90, 95% CI 0.70–1.10) compared with the control group (all P < 0.001). At the 6 and 12 month follow ups the pattern of results were similar, but coefficients were smaller. Conclusions: Our findings suggest receiving an HPV-positive result can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term. Developing interventions to minimise the psychosexual burden of testing HPV-positive will be essential to avoid unnecessary harm to the millions of women taking part in cervical screening. Tweetable abstract: Receiving an HPV-positive result following primary HPV testing can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term.

Original language	English
Journal	BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.16460
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 1 Jan 2020

Keywords

Cervical screening
human papillomavirus
psychosexual distress

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10.1111/1471-0528.16460

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Bennett, K. F., Waller, J., McBride, E., Forster, A. S., Di Gessa, G., Kitchener, H., & Marlow, L. A. V. (Accepted/In press). Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing: a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-0528.16460

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title = "Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing: a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme",

abstract = "Objective: To assess psychosexual distress over a 12-month period among women receiving different human papillomavirus (HPV) and cytology results in the context of the English HPV primary screening pilot. Design: Longitudinal, between-group study. Setting: Five sites in England where primary HPV testing was piloted. Population: Women aged 24–65 years (n = 1133) who had taken part in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. Methods: Women were sent a postal questionnaire soon after receiving their screening results (baseline) and 6 and 12 months later. Data were analysed using linear regression models to compare psychosexual outcomes between groups receiving six possible combinations of HPV and cytology screening results, including a control group with normal cytology and no HPV test. Main outcome measures: Psychosexual distress, assessed using six items from the Psychosocial Effects of Abnormal Pap Smears Questionnaire (PEAPS-Q). Results: At all time points, there was an association between screening result group and psychosexual distress (all P < 0.001). At baseline, mean psychosexual distress score (possible range: 1–5) was significantly higher among women with HPV and normal cytology (B = 1.15, 95% CI 0.96–1.34), HPV and abnormal cytology (B = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.78–1.27) and persistent HPV (B = 0.90, 95% CI 0.70–1.10) compared with the control group (all P < 0.001). At the 6 and 12 month follow ups the pattern of results were similar, but coefficients were smaller. Conclusions: Our findings suggest receiving an HPV-positive result can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term. Developing interventions to minimise the psychosexual burden of testing HPV-positive will be essential to avoid unnecessary harm to the millions of women taking part in cervical screening. Tweetable abstract: Receiving an HPV-positive result following primary HPV testing can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term.",

keywords = "Cervical screening, human papillomavirus, psychosexual distress",

author = "Bennett, {K. F.} and J. Waller and E. McBride and Forster, {A. S.} and {Di Gessa}, G. and H. Kitchener and Marlow, {L. A.V.}",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1111/1471-0528.16460",

language = "English",

journal = "BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology",

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T1 - Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing

T2 - a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme

AU - Bennett, K. F.

AU - Waller, J.

AU - McBride, E.

AU - Forster, A. S.

AU - Di Gessa, G.

AU - Kitchener, H.

AU - Marlow, L. A.V.

PY - 2020/1/1

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N2 - Objective: To assess psychosexual distress over a 12-month period among women receiving different human papillomavirus (HPV) and cytology results in the context of the English HPV primary screening pilot. Design: Longitudinal, between-group study. Setting: Five sites in England where primary HPV testing was piloted. Population: Women aged 24–65 years (n = 1133) who had taken part in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. Methods: Women were sent a postal questionnaire soon after receiving their screening results (baseline) and 6 and 12 months later. Data were analysed using linear regression models to compare psychosexual outcomes between groups receiving six possible combinations of HPV and cytology screening results, including a control group with normal cytology and no HPV test. Main outcome measures: Psychosexual distress, assessed using six items from the Psychosocial Effects of Abnormal Pap Smears Questionnaire (PEAPS-Q). Results: At all time points, there was an association between screening result group and psychosexual distress (all P < 0.001). At baseline, mean psychosexual distress score (possible range: 1–5) was significantly higher among women with HPV and normal cytology (B = 1.15, 95% CI 0.96–1.34), HPV and abnormal cytology (B = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.78–1.27) and persistent HPV (B = 0.90, 95% CI 0.70–1.10) compared with the control group (all P < 0.001). At the 6 and 12 month follow ups the pattern of results were similar, but coefficients were smaller. Conclusions: Our findings suggest receiving an HPV-positive result can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term. Developing interventions to minimise the psychosexual burden of testing HPV-positive will be essential to avoid unnecessary harm to the millions of women taking part in cervical screening. Tweetable abstract: Receiving an HPV-positive result following primary HPV testing can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term.

AB - Objective: To assess psychosexual distress over a 12-month period among women receiving different human papillomavirus (HPV) and cytology results in the context of the English HPV primary screening pilot. Design: Longitudinal, between-group study. Setting: Five sites in England where primary HPV testing was piloted. Population: Women aged 24–65 years (n = 1133) who had taken part in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. Methods: Women were sent a postal questionnaire soon after receiving their screening results (baseline) and 6 and 12 months later. Data were analysed using linear regression models to compare psychosexual outcomes between groups receiving six possible combinations of HPV and cytology screening results, including a control group with normal cytology and no HPV test. Main outcome measures: Psychosexual distress, assessed using six items from the Psychosocial Effects of Abnormal Pap Smears Questionnaire (PEAPS-Q). Results: At all time points, there was an association between screening result group and psychosexual distress (all P < 0.001). At baseline, mean psychosexual distress score (possible range: 1–5) was significantly higher among women with HPV and normal cytology (B = 1.15, 95% CI 0.96–1.34), HPV and abnormal cytology (B = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.78–1.27) and persistent HPV (B = 0.90, 95% CI 0.70–1.10) compared with the control group (all P < 0.001). At the 6 and 12 month follow ups the pattern of results were similar, but coefficients were smaller. Conclusions: Our findings suggest receiving an HPV-positive result can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term. Developing interventions to minimise the psychosexual burden of testing HPV-positive will be essential to avoid unnecessary harm to the millions of women taking part in cervical screening. Tweetable abstract: Receiving an HPV-positive result following primary HPV testing can cause psychosexual distress, particularly in the short-term.

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KW - human papillomavirus

KW - psychosexual distress

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DO - 10.1111/1471-0528.16460

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AN - SCOPUS:85090092018

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JO - BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

JF - BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

ER -

Psychosexual distress following routine primary human papillomavirus testing: a longitudinal evaluation within the English Cervical Screening Programme

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