Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STD & AIDS
Volume 19, Issue 8, Pages 510-513Publisher
ROYAL SOC MEDICINE PRESS LTD
DOI: 10.1258/ijsa.2007.007235
Keywords
bacterial vaginosis; Gram stain; provider-collected; self-collected
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Women reluctant to undergo a per-speculum examination consider self-sampling more acceptable. The aim of this study was to compare self-collected vaginal swabs for detection of bacterial vaginosis (BV), candidiasis and trichomoniasis, with vaginal specimens obtained by the gynaecologist at per-speculum examination. Self-collected and provider-collected vaginal swabs were obtained from 50 women attending the gynaecological outpatients department. The Gram-stained smears and saline wet mounts prepared from the provider-collected vaginal swabs were examined by a microbiologist and a gynaecologist. We determined the validity and the inter-rater reliability of the overall BV score and the morphotype specific score using Kappa statistics. When compared with the provider-collected smear, the ability of the self-collected smear to diagnose BV had a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 97%. With specific instructions to help assure the depth of sampling, self-collected swabs can reasonably approximate specimens obtained by clinicians during speculum examination for the diagnosis of BV.
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