Determinants of Female College Students’ Likelihood of Accepting Self-sampling for Cervical Cancer Prevention
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47779/ajhs.2026.747Keywords:
Cervical Cancer Screening, Self-sampling, College Women, Theory of Planned BehaviorAbstract
Cervical cancer screening (CCS) including Human Papillomavirus self-sampling test (HPVSST) offers opportunities for the early detection of malignancy or lesions before onset of symptoms when treatment of cancer is most effective. Self-sampling can increase CCS in college students, however, female students’ attitudes toward HPVSST are understudied. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we examined associations between psychosocial factors (attitude, subjective norm, perceived control) and college students’ likelihood of accepting self-sampling. Participants in survey group 1 (n=158) were not shown pictures of HPVSST materials before completing the survey and another group of participants in survey group 2 (n=159) completed the survey were shown an image of the materials. Independent variables included attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control and knowledge. Dependent variable was intention
for self-sampling. Multiple linear regression models and independent samples t-tests were used to analyze data. Women’s attitudes and perceived control were significantly associated with intention for self-sampling (p < 0.001) accounting for 51.5% of the variance in survey group 1 (Adjusted R2 =.515) and 48.7% of the variance in survey group 2 (Adjusted R2 =.487). Women who completed the survey without seeing HPVSST materials had significantly higher intention for accepting self-sampling than those who saw the pictures (M=8.02). Positive attitude, subjective norm, and knowledge were also significantly higher in the group who completed the survey without seeing the material (p < 0.001). Attitude and perceived control predict the likelihood of college women’s acceptance of HPV self-sampling, and future interventions can target those psychosocial factors.
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