Improving cervical cancer screening delivery in Puerto Rico
The effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and budget impact of interventions to improve the delivery of cervical cancer screening in Puerto Rico.
This project tests different ways to help women in Puerto Rico get cervical cancer screening and follow-up, including patient navigators and HPV self-sampling.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Comprehensive Cancer Center/ Univ/pr NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Juan, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11211630 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you would be asked to receive one of several clinic-based or at-home screening options as part of a four-arm randomized program across multiple sites. The approaches include patient navigators who help with scheduling and follow-up, offering HPV self-sampling kits to avoid clinic visits, and other combined strategies to reduce transportation and privacy barriers. The study will track who completes screening, whether abnormal results are followed up, and the costs to clinics and the health system. Results will also model the budget impact for government clinics to inform wider adoption.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adult women in Puerto Rico who are due for cervical cancer screening, especially those using government clinics or covered by Medicaid/Medicare.
Not a fit: Women who are already up-to-date with screening or who live outside Puerto Rico and cannot attend participating clinics would be unlikely to directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could raise screening rates and catch cancers earlier for low-income women in Puerto Rico.
How similar studies have performed: Other programs using patient navigation and HPV self-sampling have improved screening in some settings, but combining multiple approaches in a randomized trial in Puerto Rico is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
San Juan, United States
- Comprehensive Cancer Center/ Univ/pr — San Juan, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ortiz, Ana Patricia — Comprehensive Cancer Center/ Univ/pr
- Study coordinator: Ortiz, Ana Patricia
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.