Acceptability, simplicity, and relevance of the new human papillomavirus/DNA test among 35-year-old ever-married women in a district of Sri Lanka: focus group discussions

BACKGROUND: Two major drawbacks of the present cervical cancer screening programme in Sri Lanka are, the suboptimal sensitivity of the pap smear and the low coverage. The sensitivity of the HPV/DNA screening test is high. The objective of the study was to explore the acceptability relevance and simplicity of the new HPV/DNA screening implementation among ever-married women in a district of Sri Lanka. METHODS: Focus group discussions (FGD) (n = 3) in the public health divisions of the Kalutara district were used to collect data during December 2018. The study population comprised of ever-married women 35 years old, who, carried out an HPV/DNA test at a community Well Woman Clinics (WWCs) (n = 89). A list of WWCs was prepared according to an alphabetical order under urban, rural, and estate sector categories and allocated a number. One WWC was selected from each sector randomly for the three FGDs representing the estate, rural, and urban clinics. A convenient sampling technique was used to select participants for each FGD (n = 8). The information collected at each interview was summarized at the end of each interview. The analysis was done with manual content. RESULTS: Most of the participants were Sinhalese (n = 17, 70.9%), Buddhist (n = 18, n = 75%), and non-working (n = 18, n = 75%). The community awareness of HPV/DNA screening and field staff performance were highly appreciated by most of the participants. Most were aware of the high sensitivity of the HPV/DNA test, therefore the early detection rate of cervical cancer precursors is high. Most of the participants expressed the HPV/DNA test as a convenient and neutral test. Most were mentioned the necessity of repeated clinic visits for the pap test and colposcopy in HPV/DNA screened positive follow-up but there was marked acceptability (n = 23, 95.8%) for HPV/DNA test. CONCLUSIONS: Acceptability of the new HPV/DNA screening test was high. Most of the participants perceived the HPV/DNA test to be simple and also relevant. Therefore, the HPV/DNA screening test can be recommended to be incorporated into the National Cervical Cancer Screening Programme as its suitability was well explored in the Sri Lankan setting. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-022-01712-2.