Cervical human papillomavirus infection in women attending gynaecological outpatient clinics in northern Greece.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the necessary cause for the development of invasive cervical cancer. Identification of HPV determinants may contribute to the targeting of high-risk groups for cervical cancer. The study was aimed at estimating HPV prevalence and its determinants among 1296 women attending six gynaecological outpatient clinics in northern Greece. Information was available through personal interview and the study of cervical exfoliated cells. HPV DNA was detected by reverse line-blot polymerase chain reaction using the L1 primers PGMY09/11. The overall HPV prevalence was 2.5%. After controlling for potential confounders, the two independent risk factors associated with an increased prevalence were young age and parity. The prevalence odds ratio (POR) for those younger than 27 years against those older than 42 years was 5.31 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.53-18.44) and the POR for nulliparous women compared with women with two or more children was 4.15 (95% CI=1.35-12.76). HPV was present in 10 of 12 women with low-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions (CIN) (83.3%) and in 3 of 4 with high-grade CIN (75%). The prevalence of genital HPV infections in the study population was among the lowest ever reported internationally.