Cervical papillomavirus infection and cervical dysplasia in Hispanic, Native American, and non-Hispanic White women in New Mexico

Background: Human papillomavirus infections of the cervix are found with varying frequencies in different populations worldwide, and have been associated with cervical cytologic abnormalities. Methods: We studied 1,603 randomly selected Hispanic, Native American, and non-Hispanic White women in New Mexico to determine the prevalence of cervical HPV infection in these ethnic groups, and its association with Pap smear abnormalities, using a new commercial dot-blot hybridization assay. Results: Nine percent of all women screened had evidence of cervical HPV infection (13.7% of non-Hispanic White women, 9.7% of Hispanics, and 6.6% of Native American women). Prevalence was higher in younger women ages 14-19 years than in older age groups. Over half of women with cervical HPV infection (n = 145) had normal Pap smears. The proportion of infected women increased among those with more advanced cytopathologic abnormalities; 5.6 percent with normal Pap smears had cervical HPV vs 66.7 percent with moderate-severe dysplasia. Conclusions: Cervical HPV infection is common among New Mexico clinic attendees, varies in prevalence among the three major ethnic groups, and is strongly associated with cervical cytopathologic abnormalities.