HIV infection and cervical cancer: a note of caution for clinicians and health planners

BACKGROUND: To estimate the association between HIV infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study based on data from 251 women fr om a Sexually Transmitted Diseases clinic. Patients with CIN were compared with those without CIN in terms of HIV infection and exposure to other risk factors, calculating the corresponding adjusted odds ratio (OR,) by logist ic regression. RESULTS: HIV infection (ORA= 7.5; CI 95%: 2.5-22.1), having previous cytolo gies with cellular changes associated with human papillomavirus infection ( ORA = 3.6; CI 95%: 1,3-10.2) and history of condylomas (ORA = 3.2; CI 95%: 1.2-8.4) were associated with CIN. CONCLUSIONS: The strong association observed between HIV and GIN, shows tha t it is necessary for health services planners and clinicians caring for HI V infected women to ensure that the latter receive the appropriate care to guarantee its early detection.