• Olola Oneko, Michael J Mahande, Caroline Amour, Meridith Pollie, Cheyenne Smith, Innocent B Mboya, and Madelon Finkel.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, P.O. Box 3010, Moshi-Tanzania.
• Afr Health Sci. 2022 Jun 1; 22 (2): 9710697-106.

BackgroundThe ability for women to self-collect human papillomavirus (HPV) samples can potentially reduce the risk of cervical cancer and increase screening coverage.ObjectivesTo assess the willingness to HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening and its predictors among women attending outpatient clinics in Arusha region, northern Tanzania.MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 706 women aged 18-55 years in Meru District Hospital and Usa River Health Centre from March to April 2019. Face-to-face intervies were conducted using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Stata version 14.0. The log-binomial regression was used to determine factors associated with willingness to self-collection of HPV samples.ResultsMajority (70%) of the women were willing to self-collection of HPV samples for cervical cancer screening and was associated with attending Meru District hospital (PR=2.02, 95%CI 1.77-2.31); good knowledge about cervical cancer warning signs (PR=1.11, 95%CI 1.01-1.22), prevention (PR=1.13, 95%CI 1.04-1.20), and symptoms (PR=1.61, 95%CI 1.33-1.93); and having formal employment (PR=1.22, 95%CI 1.07-1.37).ConclusionThe majority of women were willing to self-collect HPV samples for cervical cancer screening. Self-collection is, therefore, an acceptable and viable means of screening for cervical cancer, which has great implications for Tanzania from a health policy perspective.© 2022 Oneko O et al.

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