Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41450438›Full record

ArticleLancet regional health. Americas2026

The longitudinal effect of repetition and practice on the accuracy of lay anal examinations for detecting perianal and anal canal abnormalities: a prospective study.

Alan G Nyitray, Timothy L McAuliffe, Jenna Nitkowski, Cameron Liebert, Michael D Swartz, Ashish A Deshmukh, Jared Kerman, Ellen Almirol, John A Schneider, J Michael Wilkerson and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Lancet regional health. Americas, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Alan G NyitrayCenter for Cancer Discovery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Timothy L McAuliffeCenter for Community Health and Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Jenna NitkowskiCenter for Cancer Discovery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Cameron LiebertSchool of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Michael D SwartzDepartment of Biostatistics and Data Science, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Ashish A DeshmukhDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
Jared KermanUniversity of Chicago, Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Chicago, IL, USA.
Ellen AlmirolUniversity of Chicago, Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Chicago, IL, USA.
John A SchneiderUniversity of Chicago, Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Michael WilkersonDepartment of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Lu-Yu HwangDepartment of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA.
Derek SmithThe Crofoot Research Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Duo YuData Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Aniruddha HazraUniversity of Chicago, Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, Chicago, IL, USA.
Elizabeth Y ChiaoMD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: While anal cancer screening is now recommended in several countries for high-incidence populations, barriers impede screening uptake. It is well known that patient recognition of symptoms increases cancer screening uptake, and we previously demonstrated that patients can detect small masses at the perianus and in the anal canal. In this current analysis, we aimed to longitudinally assess the effect of repetition and practice on patient self-recognition of small masses. Methods: Individuals and couples of sexual minority men and transgender women were taught to conduct an anal self-examination or anal companion examination (ASE/ACE) at visit 1 and then randomized to a practice or control condition. Six months later, at visit 2, the effect of practice and repetition of the ASE/ACE on detection of abnormalities was assessed by comparing the lay exam results to those of a clinician. Concordance, Findings: Concordance between lay exam and clinician exam increased from visit 1 (73%, 524/714) to visit 2 (95%, 535/561) ( Interpretation: Because lay individuals can detect anal abnormalities, clinicians conducting an anal examination may suggest that the patient's own lay exams may detect early invasive anal cancer. Funding: National Cancer Institute.

Indexed as

Anal canalAnus neoplasmsDigital anal rectal examinationEarly detection of cancerHIVHomosexualityMaleSelf-examination

Identifiers

PMID41450438
PMCPMC12732307

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.