ANTICIPATED ACCEPTABILITY OF PERSONALIZED CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING IN LATVIA – RESULTS FROM A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Description

Objectives: The coverage level of cervical cancer screening in Latvia is not optimal (46.7% in 2022). The availability of technology provides an opportunity to move from a "one size fits all" screening approach to a "personalized" screening program. The aim of this qualitative study was to realize the anticipated acceptability of personalized cervical cancer screening in Latvia.
Materials and Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted by semi-structured interviews face to face or online, focusing on the anticipated acceptability of personalized cervical cancer screening among women living in Latvia. In total, 19 interviews were carried out from April to June of 2023. Interview guide was based on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability of Healthcare interventions. Purposeful selection of study participants was performed using the maximum variation sampling method. The data were analyzed according to the principles of inductive content analysis.
Results: Six main categories were identified: (1) “Science-based medicine” describes trust in evidence-based medicine; (2) “Health literacy” describes the needs to promote health literacy among healthcare professionals, women, organizations; (3) “Emotions and feelings” in relation to risk and frequency of check-ups; (4) “Resources to invest” describes the time, financial, and personal resources that must be invested to perform the screening; (5) “Technical solutions” describes the need for technological innovation and the use of data in personalized screening, the most appropriate format for reporting screening results; (6) “10-year period” describes that 10-year interval is too long period between screenings.
Conclusions: There is a positive attitude towards a personalized cervical cancer screening approach, however, a 10-year interval between screenings in low-risk cases seems too long for women. It is necessary to promote the health literacy of women and healthcare specialists about personalized screening concept.

Period	22 Mar 2024
Event title	RSU International Student Conference: 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International