HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and is associated with cervical cancer in women – the fourth cause of mortality of female cancer in Brazil. Surveys on HPV prevalence and lifestyle factors relevant to HPV transmission are essential to monitoring the infection and plan prevention programs in low incomes countries to fight again HPV related cancers. Therefore,we aim to estimate the prevalence of genital HPV in women and men and associated lifestyle behavior.
A total of 860 women and men aged 16-25 years old of Northeast Brazil, enrolled in the POP-Brazil study, an ongoing nationwide HPV prevalence study, enrolling 7.505 participants between October 2016 and June 2017. DNA was extracted from specimens collected in Primary Care Units and HPV genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction amplification followed by hybridization (Linear Array Roche@). Demographic and sexual behavior were gathered by interview in the Primary care unit.
The demographic characteristics of the sample reflect the general population of the region: the mean age was 20.5 (± 2.8) and the majority self-declared as brown skin color (64.4%), with household income less than US$ 500.00 per month. The overall prevalence of HPV was 56.2% (95% CI 50.0-62.4) and the prevalence of high-risk types was 38.2% (95% CI 32.1-44.2). Education level (PR=1.2; p= 0.42) and household income (p= 0.46) were not associated with high risk HPV. HPV presence was associated with smoking (PR=1.8; 0.007) and drug use (PR=1.4; 0.05) but not with alcohol consumption (PR= 1.3; p=0.15). Young people with HPV have higher number of sexual partner (PR=1.2; p< 0.01) but the age of first sexual intercourse was not associated (PR=1.04; p=0.2). Same-sex relationships did not increase the prevalence (PR=1.0; p>0.05) as well as the use of condom (PR= 1.1; p=0.54). The most prevalent types were 16 (11.2%), 58 (6.0%) and 59 (5.2%).
Brazilian infections by all HPV types and high-risk types in young people from Northeast region is very high. Certain lifestyle factors as smoking, drug use and number of sexual partners are associated with an increased prevalence of infection. Our data on HPV prevalence and behavior are crucial for evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing HPV vaccination recommendation in Brazil and planning of preventive strategies to reduce the burden of cervical cancer and other HPV-related tumors.