Predictors of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in Italian women

Abstract

HPV infection is a "necessary cause" of cervical cancer and it is sexually transmitted. Due to upcoming mass vaccination investigation on risk factors for infection is the basis to implement prophylactic strategy even in older women. The aim of the study was to evaluate predictors of high-risk (HR) HPV infection in adult women. Between 2006 and 2008, 100 women aged >18 years, with no previous treatment for cervical lesions, were screened for HR HPV infection in Rome, Italy. Risk factors for HPV infection were investigated through a questionnaire including: ethnicity, religion, education, marital status, sexual behavior, gynecological and obstetrical history, smoking and alcohol intake. Multivariate analysis identified the "never married-separated/divorced" status (OR: 3.38; 95% CI: 1.14-10.12) as predictor of HPV infection, while having a higher age at the first sexual intercourse (FSI) shows a protective effect (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.71-1.00). A trend for the association between the infection and having more than three lifetime partners was also observed (OR: 2.57; 95% CI: 0.86-7.71). No significant association was found for other demographic characteristics investigated. These findings provide a contribution in the knowledge of an adult population defining a "high-risk" sexual behavioral profile and could be helpful to target prophylactic strategies in older woman. J. Med. Virol. 82:1921-1927, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Risk factors for cervical cancer among young women

“…This confirms our study (OR-5.10, p -0.042), and many other published works on this subject [13,16,17,[36][37][38]. Moscicki says that a large number of sexual partners is an independent risk factor for HPV infection and cervical cancer.…”

“…Some studies show that the very early age of sexual initiation is not an independent risk factor for cervical cancer [14,21] or the risk is slightly elevated (on the border of statistical significance [32]). Most of the work, however, significantly stresses the influence of early initiation of sexual activity with an HPV infection [13,15,17,35]. Our study confirms the relationship between the early start of sexual activity (under 16 years of age) and HPV infection.…”

“…The most important risk factors for cervical cancer in young women are the early initiation of sexual life, multiple sexual partners and infection with human papilloma virus, often simultaneously with many of its types [13][14][15][16][17]. Confortini reports that almost 30% of women aged 18-24 years are infected with some type of human papilloma virus, while 19.3% are carriers of the oncogenic type [13].…”

Prevalence, Potential Predictors, and Genotype-Specific Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Infection among Sexually Active Students in Japan

“…While several previous studies reported that smoking history is a potential predictor [ 11 – 14 ], others did not find any association between smoking history and HR-HPV prevalence [ 12 , 15 – 17 ]. As reported elsewhere [ 8 , 11 , 13 , 15 , 17 ], the OR for HR-HPV positivity was higher if subjects had more partners (either numbers in lifetime or numbers in the past 6 months). The association in our study appeared stronger (AOR for subjects with 5 or more partners, 4.72) than that in other reports (OR for a similar number of partners was in the range of 1.1–3.9).…”

Review of Research on the Prevention of HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer

“…Gita et al [12] found that the incidence of HPV infection is highest among women aged 35 to 44. Cercato et al [15] utilized questionnaires to identify the risk factors for HPV infection. Education, socioeconomic status, gynecological history, use of oral contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases, working conditions, low body mass, low intake of vegetables, male factors, smoking, and drinking were included as items in the questionnaires.…”