Knowledge and Awareness Regarding HPV Infection and Pap Smear Screening in Reproductive Aged Females in Delhi NCR Rural Region

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to document the knowledge and awareness of HPV infection and Pap smear among the study women and to conduct screening with Pap smear cytology and HPV testing. The study also aimed to further perform a correlation analysis of HPV prevalence with demographic data. The present study collected demographic, epidemiologic and clinical information of women of aged group 20–60 years with gynaecological abnormalities who attended the gynaecology and cancer OPD at a tertiary care health centre. Majority of the study participants were young married ladies and did not have any formal education (85.5%). Mean (SD) age at the time of first pregnancy among the study subjects was 16.8 (2.7) years. Majority of the study participants were below poverty line (88.2%). A total of 68.6% of the study subjects had an HPV infection. Among those that had an HPV infection, majority had HPV 16 infection (95.4%). In the remaining 4.6%, HPV 18 was present. Findings show that with increasing age, HPV prevalence increases. Also, early age at marriage, lack of education, increased parity, early age at first pregnancy, poor sanitation, use of tobacco and belonging to below poverty line were significant risk factors for HPV infection in this cohort. The study reported a high prevalence of HPV infection in rural women attending the gynaecology and cancer OPD of a tertiary care hospital. Several important risk factors for the HPV infection were also identified. These were early age at marriage, lack of education, increased parity, early age at first pregnancy, poor sanitation, use of tobacco and belonging to below poverty line. These findings call for more efforts to increase awareness pertaining to HPV infection and cervical cancer among rural women.