Publications by authors named "Megan Huchko"

Unlabelled: The proportion of women dying from cervical cancer in middle- and low-income countries is over 60%, twice that of their high-income counterparts. A primary screening strategy to eliminate this burden is cervix visualization and application of 3-5% acetic acid, inducing contrast in potential lesions. Recently, machine learning tools have emerged to aid visual diagnosis.

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Objective: To compare the model-predicted benefits, harms, and cost-effectiveness of cytology, cotesting, and primary HPV screening in US women with HIV (WWH).

Design: We adapted a previously published Markov decision model to simulate a cohort of US WWH.

Setting: United States.

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Article Synopsis
  • A pilot study tested a smartphone-compatible confocal micro-endoscope (SCME) in a cervical cancer screening clinic in Kampala, Uganda, to improve the detection and treatment of precancerous lesions.
  • Over a period from November 2021 to July 2022, 291 women participated, with significant findings showing that 81% were open to future screenings using the SCME.
  • Nurses reported positive experiences with the device, indicating it was useful and generally easy to use, suggesting potential for enhanced cervical cancer screening practices.
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Background: Mobile health (mHealth) has become an increasingly popular strategy to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes. Communicating results and health education via text may facilitate program planning and promote better engagement in care for women undergoing human papillomavirus (HPV) screening. We sought to develop and evaluate an mHealth strategy with enhanced text messaging to improve follow-up throughout the cervical cancer screening cascade.

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Despite prevalent preventative methods of human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer remains the foremost cause of cancer-related death among women of reproductive age in Western Kenya. HPV self-sampling is a preventative measure that can improve accessibility and availability to cervical cancer screening. Correct education about HPV is crucial to combating stigma and increasing HPV screening uptake.

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High rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality in Kenya may be influenced by provider training and knowledge in emergency obstetric and neonatal care in addition to availability of supplies necessary for this care. While post-abortion care is a key aspect of life-saving maternal health care, no validated questionnaires have been published on provider clinical knowledge in this arena. Our aim was to determine provider knowledge of maternal-child health (MCH) emergencies (post-abortion care, pre-eclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal resuscitation) and determine factors associated with clinical knowledge.

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  • A study compared contraceptive access between women with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities in North Carolina's Medicaid program.
  • It found that only 30.1% of women with disabilities received effective contraception, compared to 36.3% of those without, indicating significant disparities.
  • Additionally, women with disabilities who used effective contraception were more likely to have menstrual disorders, highlighting the need for improved reproductive health services for this population.
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Background: Mobile health (mHealth) has become an increasingly popular strategy to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes. Communicating results and health education via text may facilitate program planning and promote better engagement in care for women undergoing human papillomavirus (HPV) screening. We sought to develop and evaluate an mHealth strategy with enhanced text messaging to improve follow-up throughout the cervical cancer screening cascade.

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Background: Cervical cancer screening through self-collected high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) testing has increased screening uptake, particularly in low-resource settings. Improvement ultimately depends, however, on women with positive results accessing follow-up treatment. Identifying the barriers to timely treatment is needed to tailor service delivery for maximum impact.

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Introduction And Hypothesis: Visual tools are a valuable tool for ascertaining patient symptoms, especially in populations with low literacy rates. The objective was to develop and validate a pictorial scale for assessing symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence among women in western Kenya.

Methods: Illustrations of POP, stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) were developed by an artist.

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Background: There is growing evidence supporting the use of mobile health (mHealth) interventions in low- and middle-income countries to address resource limitations in the delivery of health information and services to vulnerable populations. In parallel, there is an increasing emphasis on the use of implementation science tools and frameworks for the early identification of implementation barriers and to improve the acceptability, appropriateness, and adoption of mHealth interventions in resource-limited settings. However, there are limited examples of the application of implementation science tools and frameworks to the formative phase of mHealth design for resource-limited settings despite the potential benefits of this work for enhancing subsequent implementation, scale-up, and sustainability.

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Background: Mobile phone ownership among women of reproductive age in western Kenya is not well described, and our understanding of its link with care-seeking behaviors is nascent. Understanding access to and use of mobile phones among this population as well as willingness to participate in mobile health interventions are important in improving and more effectively implementing mobile health strategies.

Objective: This study aims to describe patterns of mobile phone ownership and use among women attending cervical cancer screening and to identify key considerations for the use of SMS text message-guided linkage to treatment strategies and other programmatic implications for cervical cancer screening in Kenya.

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Introduction: Despite the increased risk of cervical cancer among HIV-positive women, many HIV-care programs do not offer integrated cervical cancer screening. Incorporating self-collected Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing into HIV programs is a potential strategy to identify women at higher risk for cervical cancer while leveraging the staffing, infrastructure and referral systems for existing services. Community-based HIV and HPV testing has been effective and efficient when offered in single-disease settings.

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Background: To achieve the World Health Organization targets for cervical cancer elimination, low- and middle-income countries will need to develop innovative strategies to provide human papillomavirus (HPV)-based screening at a population level. Although mobile health (mHealth) interventions may help realize these goals by filling gaps in electronic specimen tracking and patient education, effective implementation of mHealth interventions is dependent upon context-specific development that is acceptable and usable by the target population. Detailed feedback should be gathered at the design and development stages to yield final products that reflect the needs, desires, and capabilities of target users.

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Background: Despite a high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer in low and middle-income countries, stigma remains an issue. Addressing HPV and cervical cancer stigma could significantly improve health outcomes for these conditions. The objective of this study was to identify the manifestations of stigma and their potential impacts on health-seeking behavior.

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Background: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths among women of reproductive age in Peru. Screening and early identification of pre-cancerous lesions are a cornerstone of the cervical cancer prevention strategy. Yet, there is limited literature on barriers to screening among Peruvian women.

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Background: Nearly 90% of deaths due to cervical cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In recent years, many digital health strategies have been implemented in LMICs to ameliorate patient-, provider-, and health system-level challenges in cervical cancer control. However, there are limited efforts to systematically review the effectiveness and current landscape of digital health strategies for cervical cancer control in LMICs.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading a call to action to eliminate cervical cancer by the end of the century through global implementation of two effective evidence-based preventive interventions: HPV vaccination and cervical screening and management (CSM). Models estimate that without intervention, over the next 50 years 12.2 million new cases of cervical cancer will occur, nearly 60% of which are preventable only through CSM.

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About nine out of 10 cervical cancer deaths occur in low-resource countries, with a particularly high burden in sub-Saharan Africa. The objectives of this study were to assess barriers and facilitators to cervical cancer screening in western Kenya from the perspectives of community members and healthcare providers. We conducted two focus groups with female community members (n = 24) and one with providers (n = 12) in Migori County, Kenya.

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Objectives: This study aimed to report the proportion of women with a new diagnosis of cervical cancer recommended for curative hysterectomy as well as associated factors. We also report recommended treatments by stage and patterns of treatment initiation.

Design: This was an observational cohort study.

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Cervical cancer mortality is high among Peruvian women of reproductive age. Understanding barriers and facilitators of cervical cancer screening and treatment could facilitate development of contextually-relevant interventions to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality. From April to October 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with 22 medical personnel and administrative staff from in Lima, Peru.

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Objectives: To estimate the cost of human papillomavirus (HPV)-based screening through community health campaigns (CHCs) and home-based testing.

Setting: CHCs and home-based testing in six communities in rural Western Kenya.

Participants: CHCs and home-based screening reached 2297 and 1002 women aged 25-65 years, respectively.

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Fear of the speculum and feelings of vulnerability during the gynecologic exams are two of the biggest barriers to cervical cancer screening for women. To address these barriers, we have developed a novel, low-cost tool called the Callascope to reimagine the gynecological exam, enabling clinician and self-imaging of the cervix without the need for a speculum. The Callascope contains a 2 megapixel camera and contrast agent spray mechanism housed within a form factor designed to eliminate the need for a speculum during contrast agent administration and image capture.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to cervical cancer as a public health problem, and sub-Saharan Africa bears the world's highest incidence. In the realm of screening, simplified WHO recommendations for low-resource countries now present an opportunity for a public health approach to this public health problem. We evaluated the feasibility of such a public health approach to cervical cancer screening that features community-based self-administered HPV testing and mobile treatment provision.

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In 2018, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) endorsed three strategies for cervical cancer screening in women ages 30 to 65: cytology every 3 years, testing for high-risk types of human papillomavirus (hrHPV) every 5 years, and cytology plus hrHPV testing (co-testing) every 5 years. It further recommended that women discuss with health care providers which testing strategy is best for them. To inform such discussions, we used decision analysis to estimate outcomes of screening strategies recommended for women at age 30.

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