Diagnostic accuracy of self-collected menstrual blood for high-risk human papillomavirus testing for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Self-collected menstrual blood shows excellent promise for finding cervical cancer precursors at home, potentially expanding screening access where clinics are scarce.
This meta-analysis (7 studies, n=1,672) finds that self-collected menstrual blood shows high sensitivity (0.96) for detecting HPV-related cervical pathology, making it a potentially feasible self-sampling approach to expand cervical cancer screening access. Low specificity (0.53) suggests need for confirmatory testing, but the high sensitivity is well-suited for population screening paradigms.
What the study was
- Study design
- Systematic review and meta-analysis using bivariate random-effects model and HSROC (7 studies, n=1,672)
- Population
- Adult women undergoing self-sampling menstrual blood HPV testing
- Sample size
- 1672
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- Frontiers in Microbiology
Why it surfaced
Novel self-sampling approach (menstrual blood) for cervical cancer screening with sensitivity 0.96; addresses access gaps in cervical cancer screening globally; PROSPERO-registered meta-analysis (CRD42024605195).
A plain-language summary of published research — not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about your own care.