FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION DEFECTED BY POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION AMONG URBAN CANADIAN ABORIGINAL AND NONABORIGINAL WOMEN

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and correlates of human papill omavirus (HPV) infection among women attending an ethnically mixed, pr edominantly low-income, inner-city primary care clinic, Study Design: Cross-sectional survey (N = 1,477), Demographic, behavioral, and repro ductive history data were collected by questionnaire, Cervical swabs w ere analyzed for gonorrhea and chlamydial infections, abnormal cytolog y, and HPV infection assessed by PCR followed by hybridization for typ es 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35, Results: Human papillomavirus was de tected in 33% of specimens, with no significant difference between Abo riginal (AB) and non-Aboriginal women, Adjusting for AB status, HPV in fection was associated with marital status, condom use, number of sexu al partners (last year and lifetime), age at first sexual intercourse, a history of sexual abuse, and current abnormal Papanicolaou (Pap) sm ear, In multivariate analyses excluding abnormal Pap smear as an indep endent variable, marital status and the number of lifetime sexual part ners were found to be significant independent predictors of HPV infect ion, Comparing individuals with 20+ Lifetime sexual partners and those with 1 or fewer partners, the odds ratio (OR) for HPV infection was 1 .90 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.66-2.17) among AB women and 1.54 a mong non-AB women (95% CI 1.36-1.73), The OR for infection with HPV ty pes 6 and 11 was 1.39 (95% CI 1.22-1.58), whereas for the high oncogen ic risk types of 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35, the OR was 1.82 (95% CI 1.65- 2.01). Conclusions: No differences were found between AB and non-AB wo men in the detection of HPV DNA, despite the higher risk for cervical cancer and the prevalence of recognized behavioral and reproductive ri sk factors among AB women, This study also indicates that the associat ion of sexual activity with HPV infection holds true for both high- an d low-oncogenic HPV types.