Health-related quality of life of women after HPV testing as triage strategy for an abnormal Pap smear: a nested randomized pragmatic trial in a middle-income country

Background Information obtained in studies on the impact of human papilloma virus (HPV) testing on health-related quality of life is contradictory. Objective To assess the impact on health-related quality of life of the HPV test, colposcopy, and cytology as triage strategies after a cytology with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) in Medellín, Colombia. Methods We carried out a nested analysis on the randomized pragmatic trial (ASCUS-COL). Women with ASCUS were assigned randomly to one of the 3 arms (Pap smear, colposcopy, HPV). Participants completed a questionnaire at baseline, two weeks after receiving the results of the triage tests and one year after the second questionnaire. We used the SF-36 to assess health-related quality of life. Results The sum score of the physical health component (PHC) and mental health component (MHC) increased significantly over time for the whole sample and there were no statistically significant differences between arms of PHC = survey 1: mean 52.4 (SD 8.21) vs. survey 3: mean 54.4 (SD 8.16) p