Aquarius Population Health

Nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by 14 high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes. Denmark and Sweden are assessing the structure of their cervical cancer screening programmes and implementing HR-HPV screening in certain populations. While both DNA and mRNA assays have similar sensitivity, mRNA assays have been shown to have higher specificity resulting in fewer false-positive results.

We adapted a decision tree model from a previously published study in England to explore how the type of assay used to detect HR HPV infections in a screening programme may impact costs, patient follow-up, and resource use. The results showed the use of mRNA tests in cervical screening for women in Sweden or Denmark instead of DNA testing would result in cost savings and a decrease in the number of unnecessary cytology tests, unnecessary recall HR-HPV tests and unnecessary colposcopies compared to HR-HPV DNA testing and can be used to inform the implementation of screening programmes with benefits for health services and women.

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Dombrowski C, Weston G, Adams E. Modelling the impact of using a DNA compared to mRNA HPV assay as part of the cervical screening programmes in Sweden and Denmark. Poster presented at: EUROGIN International Multidisciplinary HPV Congress; 2021 May 30 – June 1; Virtual

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