A 5-day educational program for teaching cervical cancer screening using visual inspection with acetic acid in low-resource settings

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of an educational program in visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for cervical cancer screening among healthcare providers in 2 low-resource countries. Methods: A cohort of multidisciplinary healthcare workers in Uganda and El Salvador were recruited to the study. A pretest was administered before the intervention of a 5-day educational program on VIA. A posttest was performed immediately after the educational program and again at a 6-month follow-up visit to assess retention of knowledge. Results: In total, 42 (93%) of the healthcare workers who participated in the educational program completed the initial posttest evaluation, and 18 (40%) healthcare workers completed the 6-month follow-up evaluation. Mean test scores increased after participation in the training session (62% versus 81%; P < 0.001). The self-reported comfort level for identifying cellular abnormalities also increased (2.1 versus 3.3; P < 0.001). At 6-month follow-up, the mean test score remained higher than pretest scores (79% versus 57%; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the initial and 6-month posttest scores (80% versus 79%; P = 0.20). Conclusion: The educational program in VIA provided healthcare workers with the tools potentially to decrease the morbidity and mortality of cervical cancer in the 2 low-resource countries.