What’s the title of the study?
Self-TI is a research study looking at self-testing for the human papilloma virus (HPV) in the transgender community.
What’s the study about?
It is not known if transgender people are at increased risk of high-risk HPV and its associated cancers when compared to cisgender people. There is also little knowledge about HPV in the vagina of transgender women.
In the Self-TI study, we want to find out how common high-risk HPV is in transgender people in different parts of the body.
Who’s organising it?
A collaboration between:
Who can take part?
This study is open to:
- Trans men and non-binary people registered female at birth who have a cervix
- Trans women and non-binary people registered male at birth
What will I need to do?
People taking part will take swabs from the vagina and anus, provide a urine sample, and use a mouthwash. Transgender men and non-binary people with a cervix will also have an extra swab taken by a doctor or nurse as part of their routine cervical screening. This is to see if the self-swab is as good as the one from the doctor or nurse.
People taking part will also fill out an online survey about how easy of self-sampling was for them, how they felt about, and how it compared to sampling by a doctor or nurse.
Self-TI will help us to learn how common HPV is in the transgender population and plan further research and community support. It will also help healthcare services make decisions about HPV screening can be best provided to the transgender community.
How to take part
f you would like to participate, please book one of the following appointments at the clinics below and mention that you would like to join the Self-TI study:
- Trans men and non-binary people with a cervix can book via their cervical screening
- Trans women and non-binary people can book via a sexual health screen
The clinics taking part in Self-TI:
CliniQ and Clinic-T are established providers of trans-specific healthcare. We have provided additional training to the Ambrose King Centre.