Shame and embarrassment in human papilloma virus (HPV) screening for cervical cancer: A narrative literature review

Resumen

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a common and asymptomatic sexually transmitted infection (STI). Prolonged infection with the virus is considered the main component that can cause cervical cancer. To detect HPV, cervical cytology (Pap smear or Papanicolaou) is usually used. It has been found that women feel shame and embarrassment when undergoing cervical cancer screening and after receiving a positive HPV diagnosis, because of its association with STI’s. The purpose of this Narrative Literature Review (NLR) is to present studies and literature reviews in which shame and embarrassment2 influence women's decision to undergo cervical cancer screening. To carry out this review, texts published between 2006-2021 in Google Scholar were used. The inclusion criteria were: 1) articles that mentioned shame and embarrassment as a factor that decreases HPV detection, 2) articles that included self-sampling for HPV detection, and 3) publications (studies, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews) written in English. A total of 4,585 articles were found and 24 met the inclusion criteria. The findings in this NLR show that women feel shame and embarrassment during cervical cancer screening; however, there is a lack of studies focused on embarrassment, HPV, and why women do not attend cervical screening appointments.