PMID- 35109806 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20220307 LR - 20220307 IS - 1471-2407 (Electronic) IS - 1471-2407 (Linking) VI - 22 IP - 1 DP - 2022 Feb 2 TI - Acceptability and safety of thermal ablation to prevent cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa. PG - 132 LID - 10.1186/s12885-022-09202-2 [doi] LID - 132 AB - BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends thermal ablation as an alternative to cryotherapy to treat women with precancerous lesions in low-resource settings. However, limited data are available on women's experience and adverse events (AEs) of the procedure in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and safety of thermal ablation in women screened positive for precancerous cervical lesions. METHODS: Asymptomatic women aged 30-49 years old living in the Dschang Health District were invited to participate in a cervical cancer screening campaign termed "3 T-Approach" (for Test-Triage and Treat). Recruited women were asked to perform HPV self-sampling followed by triage with visual assessment and treatment with thermal ablation if required. After treatment and 4-6 weeks later, interviews were conducted to assess women's experience on anxiety, discomfort, and pain during thermal ablation. AEs were recorded on pre-defined electronic forms 4-6 weeks after treatment to assess the procedure's safety. RESULTS: Between September 2018 and December 2020, 399 HPV-positive women (18.7% of women screened) were recruited, 236 (59.1%) had a positive visual assessment, 234 were treated by thermal ablation and 198 (84.6%) received therapy in the same visit. Treatment was not considered as painful (score