Table 2 Themes and exemplar quotations from respondents

Screening Guideline Knowledge

“I didn’t understand a whole lot about it.” (Respondent 2)

“So, for me, it really just comes down to, they said I have to test. I’m going to test, but I don’t know why.” (Respondent 1)

“Nothing. I knew nothing.” (Respondent 11)

Prior office-based cervical cancer screening experience

“She was, like, explaining to me what she was doing and checking in to see how I was feeling, if things cause pain, and let me know when it was going to be inserted and so it was just a lot more helpful to be taken really slowly and I felt like I could trust her a lot more because she was being very transparent about every single thing in an area of my body that’s very hard for me to let other people around and so I felt like that just helped build my trust.” (Respondent 7)

“And then it sometimes feels very abrupt and then rushed and distancing when the provider finishes and it’s like, here’s a pad, here’s a washcloth.  Phrases like ‘clean yourself up’ are just not good. Take a moment to take however long you need to take care of yourself feels so much better than, clean yourself up. Using more specific language, like relaxing is really abstract, using more specific language can really help. I noticed you’re breathing really deeply, keep that up. That felt encouraging. It felt affirming.” (Respondent 4)

“In these cases, I have known them (provider), but they’re still a stranger to me. I don’t hang out with them. I’m not intimate with them. I don’t have sex with them. Yeah, I don’t engage in intimate activities with this person who’s into my intimate body parts. It is awkward because we wouldn’t do that with any other stranger.” (Respondent 1)

Barriers to screening

“There’s also a fear of people walking through the door. There’s a lot of fears in that, but also being in the hands of somebody else is very similar to being in the hands of somebody else who you didn’t consent to.” (Respondent 1)

“I didn’t have insurance. I didn’t have a provider, so there were probably many years, especially in my young adulthood, where I didn’t have access to that, or at least know how to access that.” (Respondent 4)

“The ability to take off work and to get to a clinic honestly been the biggest thing - lack of time off and no clinics near me. It’s not like I can run and get it done on a lunch break. I have to also factor in it’s about an hour each way on public transit.” (Respondent 10)

At-home hrHPV self-collection experience

“It’s nice that I don’t have to interact with another person and tell them why it’s a hard experience for me. It’s just a routine procedure and I get that, but, for me, it’s not.” (Respondent 7)

“You don’t have to go somewhere. You don’t have to deal with another person. It’s less invasive in my opinion. It was simple and easy to do.” (Respondent 2)

“I didn’t have to worry about catching a bus to go down there and make an appointment and being late and everything else. It is a lot more flexible; I can just do it on my own without anybody else around.” (Respondent 2)

Testing Confidence

“I always wonder is it going to give me like a real result? Can it really know if I’m doing this right?” (Respondent 5)

“Just doing self-collection kits in general, did I do it right? Did I get enough of whatever they needed on this thing for them to be able to test it accurately? I guess that’s the only kind of concern that I have.” (Respondent 7)

“After the self-collection process, I’m still left with this sense of can I trust these results?” (Respondent 4)

“The only thing that would bother me is if there was any slight delay of between getting that result and talking to a doctor.” (Respondent 14)