Prevalence and determinants of human papillomavirus infection and cervical lesions in HIV-positive women in Kenya.

BACKGROUND

We assessed the association of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) with various characteristics, CD4 count and use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) among HIV-positive women.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study of 498 HIV-positive women who underwent HPV PCR-based testing, cytology, and systematic cervical biopsy.

RESULTS

In all, 68.7% of women were HPV-positive, 52.6% had high-risk (hr) HPV, and 40.2% multiple type infections. High-risk human papillomavirus-positivity did not vary significantly by age but it was negatively associated with education level. The most frequent types in 113 CIN2/3 were HPV16 (26.5%), HPV35 (19.5%), and HPV58 (12.4%). CD4 count was negatively associated with prevalence of hrHPV (P<0.001) and CIN2/3 among non-users of cART (P=0.013). Combination antiretroviral therapies users (≥2 year) had lower hrHPV prevalence (prevalence ratio (PR) vs non-users=0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.61-0.96) and multiple infections (PR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.53-0.88), but not fewer CIN2/3. The positive predictive value of hrHPV-positivity for CIN2/3 increased from 28.9% at age <35 years to 53.3% in ≥45 years.

CONCLUSION

The burden of hrHPV and CIN2/3 was high and it was related to immunosuppression level. Combination antiretroviral therapies ( ≥2 year) use had a favourable effect on hrHPV prevalence but cART in our population may have been started too late to prevent CIN2/3.