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Background: The gold standard for identifying cervical cancer precursors is a biopsy taken by colposcopy, followed by histological examination. In high-resource settings, this approach is highly successful. Thus, in low-resource settings, the World Health Organization recommends using other tests, including Lugol's iodine or visual inspection with 3-5 percent acetic acid (VIA), for the detection of precursors of cervical carcinoma. For the detection of precursors of cervical carcinoma, we evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the triple test versus colposcopy in this study.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 178 women who visited AIIMS Raipur’s gynaecology clinic between November 2021 and May 2023. Initially, a cervical cytology smear was taken from each individual. Visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol’s iodine was performed according to the established protocol. After that, a colposcopy was performed on each individual, biopsy samples were collected, and histological characteristics were examined. Lastly, the results were compared by statistical analysis.
Results: Participants ranged in age from 25 to 65, with a mean age of 41.22 + 7.79 years for the study population. 21 (11.8%) of the 178 women had reached menopause. 23 patients (12.9 percent) had abnormal cervical cytology, 110 patients (61.8 percent) had positive VIA results, and 125 patients had positive VILI results (70.2 percent). 114 (64.0 percent) had positive Triple test and 99 (55.6 percent) had abnormal results on colposcopy, and 80 (44.9 percent) had abnormal histopathology reports. The sensitivity and specificity of the triple test in the detection of precursors of cervical carcinoma was 95.00% and 61.22%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of colposcopy in the detection of precursors of cervical carcinoma was 86.25% and 69.39%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of the triple test and colposcopy in the detection of precursors of cervical carcinoma was 76.40% versus 76.97%.
Conclusion: According to study results, the triple test may be utilised in low-resource settings and places where colposcopy is not readily available since its diagnostic accuracy is comparable to that of colposcopy.
