Efficacy and acceptability of a self-collected medical grade tampon as a novel vaginal sample collection tool for the detection of HPV and STIs

Self-collected tampons demonstrated promising diagnostic accuracy to HCW-collected swabs for HPV and STI detection. The tampon self-collection method was well-accepted and preferred by participants, suggesting its potential as an alternative screening tool, particularly in low-resource settings. Further research with larger and more diverse populations is recommended to validate these findings and inform tampon-based self-collection programs for cervical cancer screening. Randomised controlled trials and comparisons with gold standard methods would enhance validation.