Understanding the Challenges of HPV-Based Cervical Screening: Development and Validation of HPV Testing and Self-Sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scales

TY - JOUR

T1 - Understanding the Challenges of HPV-Based Cervical Screening

T2 - Development and Validation of HPV Testing and Self-Sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scales

AU - Tatar, Ovidiu

AU - Haward, Ben

AU - Zhu, Patricia

AU - Griffin-Mathieu, Gabrielle

AU - Perez, Samara

AU - McBride, Emily

AU - Lofters, Aisha K.

AU - Smith, Laurie W.

AU - Mayrand, Marie-Hélène

AU - Daley, Ellen M.

AU - Brotherton, Julia M.L.

AU - Zimet, Gregory D.

AU - Rosberger, Zeev

N1 - E.M.D has served as an advisory board member at Merck. G.D.Z has served as a consultant and advisory board member at Merck and as an advisory board member at Moderna and Pfizer. He has also received investigator-initiated research funding from Merck, which was administered through Indiana University. Funding Information: This study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) project grant (funding reference number 165905). O.T. is supported by the CIHR-Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral award (award number FBD-170837) outside the submitted study. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.

PY - 2023/1/15

Y1 - 2023/1/15

N2 - The disrupted introduction of the HPV-based cervical screening program in several jurisdictions has demonstrated that the attitudes and beliefs of screening-eligible persons are critically implicated in the success of program implementation (including the use of self-sampling). As no up-to-date and validated measures exist measuring attitudes and beliefs towards HPV testing and self-sampling, this study aimed to develop and validate two scales measuring these factors. In October-November 2021, cervical screening-eligible Canadians participated in a web-based survey. In total, 44 items related to HPV testing and 13 items related to HPV self-sampling attitudes and beliefs were included in the survey. For both scales, the optimal number of factors was identified using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and parallel analysis. Item Response Theory (IRT) was applied within each factor to select items. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to assess model fit. After data cleaning, 1027 responses were analyzed. The HPV Testing Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HTABS) had four factors, and twenty-two items were retained after item reduction. The HPV Self-sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HSABS) had two factors and seven items were retained. CFA showed a good model fit for both final scales. The developed scales will be a valuable resource to examine attitudes and beliefs in anticipation of, and to evaluate, HPV test-based cervical screening.

AB - The disrupted introduction of the HPV-based cervical screening program in several jurisdictions has demonstrated that the attitudes and beliefs of screening-eligible persons are critically implicated in the success of program implementation (including the use of self-sampling). As no up-to-date and validated measures exist measuring attitudes and beliefs towards HPV testing and self-sampling, this study aimed to develop and validate two scales measuring these factors. In October-November 2021, cervical screening-eligible Canadians participated in a web-based survey. In total, 44 items related to HPV testing and 13 items related to HPV self-sampling attitudes and beliefs were included in the survey. For both scales, the optimal number of factors was identified using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and parallel analysis. Item Response Theory (IRT) was applied within each factor to select items. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to assess model fit. After data cleaning, 1027 responses were analyzed. The HPV Testing Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HTABS) had four factors, and twenty-two items were retained after item reduction. The HPV Self-sampling Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (HSABS) had two factors and seven items were retained. CFA showed a good model fit for both final scales. The developed scales will be a valuable resource to examine attitudes and beliefs in anticipation of, and to evaluate, HPV test-based cervical screening.

KW - attitudes and beliefs

KW - cervical screening

KW - HPV self-sampling

KW - HPV testing

KW - scale development

KW - women’s health

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146767183&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/curroncol30010093

DO - 10.3390/curroncol30010093

M3 - Article

C2 - 36661742

AN - SCOPUS:85146767183

SN - 1718-7729

VL - 30

SP - 1206

EP - 1219

JO - Current Oncology

JF - Current Oncology

IS - 1

ER -