Publications by Year: 2019

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Sub-Saharan Africa. The risk of developing cancer is increased for women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. It is unknown which factors predict the initiation of curative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in resource-limited settings and whether HIV is associated with initiating curative CRT in settings with a high HIV burden.

METHODS: All women living with and without HIV infection who were initiating curative and noncurative CRT for locally advanced cervical cancer in Botswana were prospectively enrolled in an observational study. The factors associated with receiving CRT were evaluated in all patients and the subgroup of women living with HIV.

RESULTS: Of 519 enrolled women, 284 (55%) initiated CRT with curative intent. The curative cohort included 200 women (70.4%) who were living with HIV and had a median CD4 count of 484.0 cells/μL (interquartile range, 342.0-611.0 cells/μL). In the noncurative cohort, 157 of 235 women (66.8%) were living with HIV and had a median CD4 count of 476.5 cells/μL (interquartile range, 308.0-649.5 cells/μL). HIV status was not associated with initiating curative CRT (odds ratio [OR], 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-1.56). The factors associated with receiving curative CRT treatment on multivariable analysis in all patients included baseline hemoglobin levels ≥10 g/dL (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.18-2.74) and stage I or II versus stage III or IV disease (OR, 3.16; 95% CI, 2.10-4.75). Women aged >61 years were less likely to receive curative treatment (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24-0.75). Among women who were living with HIV, higher CD4 cell counts were associated with higher rates of CRT initiation.

CONCLUSIONS: The initiation of CRT with curative intent does not depend on HIV status. Significant predictors of CRT initiation include baseline hemoglobin level, disease stage, and age.

OBJECTIVE: To design an Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) residency elective in global health that meets ACGME standards and simultaneously promotes health equity.

DESIGN: A 4-week elective was established for US residents in a high-volume African district hospital that served as a site for OBGYN rotations for the national internship training program. Clear clinical, operative, and teaching requirements were delineated for US OBGYN residents. Resident formal didactic outputs were incorporated into the intern OBGYN curriculum. The program was evaluated through assessment of resident experience and contribution to local training, as well as assessment of intern competency in OBGYN.

SETTING: Scottish Livingstone Hospital, a public district hospital in Molepolole, Botswana.

PARTICIPANTS: Second- to fourth-year OBGYN residents from US training programs, working with Batswana medical interns under on-site faculty supervision.

RESULTS: From May 2016 to June 2018, 18 residents from 9 US OBGYN residency programs participated in the elective. Under supervision, US residents performed 116 major and 77 minor gynecologic surgeries, and teach-assisted Batswana interns and medical officers in 76 cesarean deliveries. Residents led or contributed significantly to 25 didactic education sessions as part of the formal intern OBGYN curriculum. During this period, 24 Batswana interns rotated through the hospital's department of OBGYN, and all 24 trainees met required OBGYN competencies prior to completing their internship.

CONCLUSIONS: Matching US resident demand for global health experiences to equitable global health programming while maintaining ACGME training guidelines poses a challenge to OBGYN residency training programs. This elective provides a model OBGYN global health elective that addresses host-identified needs, broadens residents' skills, and meets standards for postgraduate OBGYN training. Purposeful global health electives for US residents embedded in longitudinal programs provide an opportunity for residents to contribute to broader global health efforts that promote health equity.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of cervical cancer screening algorithms for women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), using primary high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) testing followed by cytology, visual inspection with acetic acid, or colposcopy.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of women living with HIV in Botswana. All participants underwent high-risk HPV testing. Participants with positive high-risk HPV test results underwent cytology, visual inspection with acetic acid, colposcopy, and biopsy. Participants with negative high-risk HPV test results also underwent cytology. Histopathology was the reference standard for determination of preinvasive cervical disease and cervical cancer. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value, and likelihood ratios (LR) of high-risk HPV-based two-stage screening algorithms were calculated.

RESULTS: Among 300 women screened, 88 (29%) had a positive high-risk HPV test result, and 29 of the 88 (35%) women who tested positive for high-risk HPV had CIN 2 or higher on histopathology. High-risk HPV followed by colposcopy resulted in a sensitivity of 83%, specificity of 49%, PPV of 47%, LR+ of +1.6, and LR- of -0.4. High-risk HPV followed by visual inspection with acetic acid resulted in a reduced sensitivity of 59%, specificity of 49%, PPV of 39%, LR+ of +1.2, and LR- of -0.8. High-risk HPV testing followed by cytology also resulted in a reduced sensitivity of 62%, specificity of 77%, PPV of 60%, LR+ of +2.7, and LR- of -0.5. Stratification by HPV 16/18/45 did not improve performance of the algorithms.

CONCLUSION: In a high-risk population with HIV, high-risk HPV testing followed by colposcopy demonstrated the highest sensitivity and PPV in detecting high-grade cervical dysplasia. Allocating resources to colposcopy in resource-limited settings may be more effective than other screening strategies.

BACKGROUND:: In Botswana, where HIV prevalence remains high, cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Multiple organizations recommend high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) testing as a screening tool, however, high coverage may not be feasible with provider-collected samples. We conducted the first assessment of self- versus provider-collected samples for hr-HPV testing in HIV-positive women in Botswana and report prevalence of hr-HPV and histological outcomes.

METHODS:: We recruited HIV-positive women ≥25 years attending an HIV clinic in Gaborone. Self- and provider-collected samples from participants were tested for hr-HPV using Cepheid GeneXpert. Women testing positive for any hr-HPV returned for colposcopy. We used unweighted κ statistics to determine hr-HPV agreement.

RESULTS:: Thirty-one (30%) of 103 women tested positive for any hr-HPV. The most common genotypes were HPV 31/33/35/52/58. Overall agreement between self- and provider-collected samples for any hr-HPV was 92% with a κ of 0.80. Ten of the 30 hr-HPV positive women attending colposcopy had CIN 2+ (33%).

CONCLUSIONS:: In this HIV-positive population, hr-HPV prevalence was 30%, with excellent agreement between self and provider samples. Self-sampling may play an important role in screening programs in high HIV burden settings with limited resources like Botswana.