Visual Inspection With Acetic Acid and Pap Smear Findings in Hiv Positive Women Attending Mbagathi District Hospital

Abstract

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequent cancers among women in Kenya and the most frequent cause of cancer deaths in resource-poor countries. About 0.5 million new cases are diagnosed each year globally, and about 0.3 million women die from this disease. Cervical cancer, caused by persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), is potentially preventable through primary prevention by HPV vaccines and by secondary prevention through screening by a variety of methods. Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) has been used alone as a "screen and treat" approach and may give false-positive results. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe visual inspection with acetic acid and cytological findings in HIV-positive women. Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study Settings: Comprehensive care clinic, Mbagathi District Hospital, Nairobi. Study population: HIV positive women attending the Mbagathi District Hospital Sample size: Seventy-five HIV-infected women attending the Mbagathi District Hospital. Methodology: Permission for the study was obtained from KNH-UoN/ ERC, Nairobi Metropolitan Services, and Mbagathi District Hospital. Seventy-five HIV-infected women were recruited into the study after meeting the inclusion criteria and a questionnaire was used to gather clinical and social demographic data. A qualified nurse collected seventy-five cervical smears from all the participants, followed by visual inspection with an acetic acid test. The cervical smears were stained with the papanicolau stain and examined microscopically. Analysis of the data was done using IBM SPSS statistics 26. Results: Out of the 75 women in the study 69(92%) had negative VIA results. Visual inspection with acetic acid was positive in 1(1.3%) and suspicious in 5 (6.7%). The prevalence of cervical intraepithelial lesions in women infected with HIV was 22.7%. High false-negative results by VIA was noted in this study...............................................................................................................