Mobile colposcopy by trained nurses in a cervical cancer screening programme at Battor, Ghana.

Abstract

Objectives: Cervical precancer screening programs are difficult to establish in low resource settings partly because of a lack of human resource. Our aiming was to overcome this challenge. We hypothesized that this could be done through task shifting to trained nurses.

Design: Descriptive retrospective cross-sectional review.

Setting: Training was at the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Center (CCPTC) and screening was carried out at the clinic and at outreaches / peripheral facilities.

Participants: All women who reported to the clinic for screening or were recruited during outreaches.

Interventions: All 4 nurses were trained for at least 2weeks (module 1). A total of 904 women were screened by the trained nurses using the EVA system. Quality assurance was ensured.

Main outcome measures: Primary screening and follow-up were carried out by the trained nurses with quality assured through image sharing and meetings with peers and experienced gynaecologists.

Results: 828 women had primary screening and 76 had follow-up screening. 739 (89.3%) were screened at the clinic and 89 (10.7%) at outreaches/peripheral facilities. Of all screened, 130 (14.5%) had cervical lesions, and 25 (2.8%) were treated, 12 (48.0%) by Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) performed by a gynaecologist, 11 (44.0%) with thermal coagulation by trained nurses except one, and 2 (8.0%) with cryotherapy by trained nurses.

Conclusion: We demonstrate the utility of a model where nurses trained in basic colposcopy can be used to successfully implement a cervical precancer screening and treatment program in low-resource settings.

Funding: None indicated.