Psycho-emotional Impact of Preoperative Counselling in Cervico-carcinoma Screening Programs

Psycho-emotional Impact of Preoperative Counselling in Cervico-carcinoma Screening

The communication of an altered Pap smear or positive HPV test has a strong impact on patients on a psychological level. HPV positive women are more likely to have higher level of stress, anxiety, depression and impaired sexual life.

The examiner want to establish this impact through different surveys (DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales); PCL-5 (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist); DTS (Dyadic Trust Scale), CDDQ (Cervical Dysplasia Distress Questionnaire) and MPI (Match Patient Inventory) from the moment the patient receives the news until after completing treatment for her intraepithelial neoplasia.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients accessing our Colposcopy service from Prevenzione Serena program with an altered pap smear or a two-times positive HPV test
• patients with biopsy result of HSIL
• ability to fill in surveys via e-mail

Exclusion Criteria:

• previous access in our Colposcopy service
• patients not enrolled in Prevenzione Serena
• pregnant patients
• inability to fill in surveys via email
• partial or total language barrier
• denied consent to participate