Prevalence of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus infection and associated risk factors among women attending the gynecology and family planning clinic at Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, South Gondar, Ethiopia

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> <bold>Background</bold> Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer in women. Early screening could reduce the transmission and progression of HPV infection to cervical cancer. Besides, data on the burden of HPV and cervical cancer is limited in Ethiopia as well as in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus infections and associated risk factors among women attending the gynecology and family planning clinic at Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Southern Gondar, Ethiopia.<bold>Method</bold> A health facility-based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among women attending the gynecology and family planning clinic from October 21 to May 21, 2023. A containing was used. After obtaining written informed consent from each participant women, the data on socio-demographic and clinical factors was collected by a trained nurse through face-to-face interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire. Cervical swab was also collected from the participant women by clinicians and performed by laboratory technologist using E6 HPV 16/18 oncoprotein detection lateral flow test strip which is coated with high-affinity monoclonal antibodies (OncoE6TM Cervical Test (Arbor Vita Corporation, Fremont, CA, USA). The data was entered into Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 for analysis. Bivariate and Multivariate logistic regression models were employed to analyze specific associations between variables and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.<bold>Results</bold> During the study period, a total of 335 study participants participated. The mean (+ SD) age of the study participant women was 36.66 years (+ 7.92). Besides, the overall prevalence of HPV (HPV16 and/or18) was 13.4% with 95% CI (10.1%-17.3%). Moreover, the overall prevalence of HPV type16, HPV18, and both HPV16 and 18 co-infection was 8.66%, 7.76%, and 2.99% respectively. Participant women who had a previous history of STI (AOR = 14.42, 95% CI = 6.31–32.99, P-value = 0.001), HIV infection (AOR = 3.53, 95CI% =1.46–8.54, P-value = 0.005) and age between 40 to 49 years (AOR = 0.17, 95%CI = 0.04–0.72, P-value = 0.016) were significantly associated factor for Human papillomavirus infection.<bold>Conclusions</bold> This study reveals a considerably high prevalence of HPV infection and VIA positivity rate. This study also showed that history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), age, and HIV infection were significantly associated risk factors for HPV infection. Overall, this finding highlights the need for early screening, increased awareness, and prevention efforts to reduce the burden of HPV infections and associated diseases among women in the study area.