{"paper_id":"4a3a6f64-ecb8-4e23-8f6e-c48280a0c8e5","body_text":"Improve the quality and coverage of National Cervical Cancer Screening programme by exploring healthcare workers' acceptability, relevance, simplicity and barriers for new HPV/DNA test in a district of Sri Lanka: A cross sectional qualitative study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Improve the quality and coverage of National Cervical Cancer Screening programme by exploring healthcare workers' acceptability, relevance, simplicity and barriers for new HPV/DNA test in a district of Sri Lanka: A cross sectional qualitative study KCM Perera¹, N Mapitigama², HTCS Abeysena³ This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5714124/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Even after 20 years of cervical cancer screening with pap smears, there is no marked reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer in Sri Lanka. The objective of the study was to improve the quality and coverage of the National Cervical Cancer Screening programme by exploring healthcare workers' acceptability, relevance, simplicity and barriers for new HPV/DNA test in a district of Sri Lanka. Method A cross-sectional qualitative research method was used.Four Focus group discussion sessions and ten In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. According to the seniority and the sector of representation eight Public Health Midwives were selected for one FGD session from the Medical Officer of Health areas. Among the healthcare workers, who actively engaged in the cervical cancer screening programme, 10 Key Informants were selected. To select participants a convenient sampling technique was used. To improve the quality of the study a Triangulation methodology was used. Broad themes and categories were identified and finally, summary results were prepared accordingly. The manual content was used in the analysis. Results Among the healthcare workers’ majority were Sinhalese (n=41, 97.6%), Buddhist (n=39, n=92.9%), and over 40 years of age (n=31, n=73.8%). Fourteen (n=33.3%) had >20 years of service in the field. Low sensitivity of conventional cytology, unsatisfactory smears, and reporting delay were stated by some as disadvantages of the pap smear screening method. Healthcare workers expressed high acceptability (n = 41, 97.62%) for HPV/DNA test due to it’s high sensitivity. Majority stated the convenience of vaginal specimens (n=22, 52.4%) as a cervical cancer screening tool to improve the coverage of the programme. Conclusions HPV/DNA tests can be used to improve the quality of the programme. In addition, the vaginal HPV/DNA tests can be used as a newcervical cancer screening tool to increase the coverage of the programme. Cervical cancer screening conventional cytology sensitivity HPV/DNA test cervical specimen vaginal specimen healthcare workers acceptability simplicity relevance barriers Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial110.01.2025.docx SupplementaryMaterial210.01.2025.docx SupplementaryMaterial310.01.2025.docx SupplementaryMaterial410.01.2025.docx SupplementaryMaterial510.01.2025.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-5714124\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Research Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":430200534,\"identity\":\"4f4fa04b-039f-11f0-91e4-06cc9d20a69f\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"KCM 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The objective of the study was to improve the quality and coverage of the National Cervical Cancer Screening programme by exploring healthcare workers' acceptability, relevance, simplicity and barriers for new HPV/DNA test in a district of Sri Lanka.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eMethod \\u003c/strong\\u003eA cross-sectional qualitative research method was used.Four Focus group discussion sessions and ten In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. According to the seniority and the sector of representation eight Public Health Midwives were selected for one FGD session from the Medical Officer of Health areas. Among the healthcare workers, who actively engaged in the cervical cancer screening programme, 10 Key Informants were selected. To select participants a convenient sampling technique was used. To improve the quality of the study a Triangulation methodology was used. Broad themes and categories were identified and finally, summary results were prepared accordingly. The manual content was used in the analysis.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eResults \\u003c/strong\\u003eAmong the healthcare workers’ majority were Sinhalese (n=41, 97.6%), Buddhist (n=39, n=92.9%), and over 40 years of age (n=31, n=73.8%). Fourteen (n=33.3%) had \\u0026gt;20 years of service in the field. Low sensitivity of conventional cytology, unsatisfactory smears, and reporting delay were stated by some as disadvantages of the pap smear screening method. Healthcare workers expressed high acceptability (n = 41, 97.62%) for HPV/DNA test due to it’s high sensitivity. Majority stated the convenience of vaginal specimens (n=22, 52.4%) as a cervical cancer screening tool to improve the coverage of the programme.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003eConclusions \\u003c/strong\\u003eHPV/DNA tests can be used to improve the quality of the programme. 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