Prevalence and risk factors for genital high-risk human papillomavirus infection among women attending the out-patient clinics of a university teaching hospital in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

IntroductionCervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the developing countries and the seventh commonest cancer in the developed countries. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is now known to be the main factor in the aetiology of cervical cancer with over 99.7% of cases being associated with previous high risk HPV (hrHPV) infection. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors for genital hrHPV infection among women attending the out-patient clinics of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving a total of 200 women. Questionnaires were administered to collect data such as sociodemographic, reproductive and sexual histories. Endocervical swab samples were then taken from each participant. Samples were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using consensus primers targeted against the hrHPV viruses.ResultsThe prevalence of hrHPV in the study was 36.5%. The most predominant HPV subtypes were 31 (25.0%), 35 (8.0%) and 16 (3.5%) with the largest proportion (76.1%) of the tested samples being positive for only a single hrHPV subtype. The study showed statistically significant associations between early age at coitarche (P = 0.032) and increasing number of lifetime sexual partners (P = 0.001) with genital hrHPV infection.ConclusionThe prevalence of hrHPV was high in Lagos with the majority of test positive samples having only a single HPV genotype. We demonstrated early age of sexual debut and increasing number of lifetime sexual partners as the most important factors associated with genital hrHPV infection.

Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer

“…The worldwide prevalence of high-risk HPV infection is 10.4% [11] and it can be as high as 36.5% in some developing countries [12,13]. Several epidemiologic studies have clearly shown that the risk of contracting genital high-risk HPV infection and cervical cancer is influenced by sexual activity [14,15].…”

Determinants of precancerous cervical lesion among women screened for cervical cancer in south Ethiopia: A case-control study

“…Data was collected using an interviewer administered questionnaire which was developed after reviewing various similar literatures (15)(16)(17)(18)(19). The questionnaire encompassed socio-demographic characteristics, reproductive characteristics, lifestyle and sexual behaviours.…”

“…The literature has reported risk factors that has been linked to cervical cancer and its precursors (15,16). The risk for developing cervical cancer is associated with multiple sexual partners, sexually transmitted infection and early age of first intercourse (15,17,18). There are a limited research in Ethiopia on risk factors of precancerous cervical lesion (15,19).…”

Severe Inflammation Indicates High Risk of HSIL: from a Cross-Sectional Study

“…Similarly, numerous epidemiology studies showed multiple sexual partners is one of the significant risk factors for developing HSIL [24,25]. Some studies found that the sexual behavior of women, multiple sexual partners and increasing number of the sexual partners were associated with high-risk HPV (hrHPV) infection [24,[26][27][28]. However, other studies suggested that with or without HPV infection, having multiple sexual partners is an independent risk factor of cervical cancer [29].…”