[Circumcision reduces the incidence of human papillomavirus infection in men].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association of circumcision with the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in men.

METHODS

We collected the samples from the surface of the coronal sulcus, glans penis, penile shaft and scrotum of 351 males examined for HPV infection in our hospital from January 2016 to August 2017, of whom 118 had received circumcision while the other 233 had not. We compared the incidence rate of HPV infection between the circumcision and non-circumcision groups and analyzed the association of the age of circumcision with the incidence of HPV infection.

RESULTS

HPV infection was found in 135 (38.46%) of the males, 29 (24.58%) in the circumcision group and 106 (45.49%) in the non-circumcision group, significantly lower in the former than in the latter (χ² = 14.48, P < 0.01). The incidence rate of HPV infection was also remarkably lower in the males circumcised at ≤17 years (13.16% ［5/38］) than in those circumcised at >17 years of age (30.0% ［24/80］) (χ² = 3.942, P = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS

Male circumcision helps reduce the incidence rate of HPV infection in men and earlier surgery may achieve even better effect.