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Background: Occult human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, present in approximately 20% of women in the United States, is usually sexually transmitted, associated with substantial health risks, and unpredictable in its resolution. The potential for adverse psychosexual alterations due to HPV infection in women considered at low risk for bacterial sexually transmitted diseases is substantial, but data is lacking., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with sexually active women aged 18 to 60 years who had been enrolled at community-based offices in the University of Michigan Vaginitis Study. Women found to have occult HPV infection of the cervix were notified, received physician consultation, and were encouraged to have colposcopy performed to assess lesion status. Responses to a follow-up written questionnaire for differences in psychosexual functioning and attitudes following diagnosis were compared among these women and those without HPV infection., Results: The women enrolled were primarily white and had a current sexual partner at the time of enrollment. They had few sexually transmitted infections and few risk factors, yet 20% had unsuspected HPV infection. Psychosexual characteristics at baseline and at follow-up, as well as perceived changes in these characteristics by the women, did not differ between women with HPV infection and those without. Stratification by potential confounders, including the presence of a vaginal infection at the time of study enrollment, household income level, ethnic background, age, marital status, and sexual history, did not alter these results., Conclusions: Women at low risk for sexually transmitted diseases, but who had a cervical HPV infection, were similar to those not infected in reported psychosexual characteristics and functioning. Adverse changes in these characteristics between the time of the diagnosis and subsequent follow-up were no more likely in those with the diagnosis than in those without.

Objective: To determine if behavioural factors, other than sexual, differ between women with cervical human papillomavirus infection (CHPI) and those with genital warts (GW)., Design: A structured, personal in-depth interview which included details on sexual behaviour, hygiene, gynaecological complaints, and demographical characteristics and a gynaecological examination which included vaginal culture and human papillomavirus (HPV) typing with Southern blot., Subjects: Women (n = 972) who had attended two family planning clinics and one youth clinic for contraceptive advice., Results: Out of this female population 66 (6.8%) were found to have CHPI, 39 (4.0%) had genital warts (GW), and 30 (3.1%) women reported genital warts within the last two years. The women with CHPI had had significantly less education, were more often immigrants, had a vaginal flora change more frequently and were more often smokers than the women with GW. The women with GW reported lower abdominal pain significantly more often, had a leucocyte dominance in the vaginal secretion more often and favoured bathing in a bathtub more than the women with CHPI. After adjustment for sexual behavioural factors the significant difference between the two groups for bathing in a bathtub and lower abdominal pain remained., Conclusion: Although both conditions are caused by HPV, there are behavioural differences between women with CHPI and women with CA.

Background and Objectives: Previous studies of relationships between genital human papillomavirus infection and tentative risk factors have yielded conflicting results, possibly because of inaccuracy of the viral detection methods used and differences in selection criteria., Goal of This Study: To determine human papillomavirus prevalence and identify risk factors in a group of young Swedish women., Study Design: This was a population-based study involving completion of a structured questionnaire, analysis of cervical scrapings for human papillomavirus and Chlamydia trachomatis, and serologic tests for C. trachomatis and herpes simplex virus antibodies., Results: The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection was 22% among the sexually active women and 4% among the virgins. A number of factors were associated with human papillomavirus prevalence in univariate analysis, but logistic regression analysis showed that lifetime number of male sexual partners was the only independent risk factor for human papillomavirus infection (adjusted odds ratio, 7.45; 95% CI, 2.79-19.92 for six or more partners vs. one partner)., Conclusion: Human papillomavirus infection is a prevalent sexually transmitted disease among young Swedish women, and the lifetime number of male sexual partners is a major risk factor.

The psychosexual sequelae of diagnosis and treatment of pre-invasive cervical atypia were assessed in three groups of women. The first group included 30 women referred to a colposcopy clinic with an abnormal cervical smear indicating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), the second comprised 50 women who were traced as sexual partners of men with penile human papillomavirus (HPV) infection; 26 of them had histologically proven cervical atypia and 24 had no such evidence. The third group included 25 women traced as partners of men with non-specific urethritis and who did not have cervical disease. Before and after questionnaires assessed six aspects of sexual behaviour and responses before diagnosis and 6 months after treatment in women with cervical atypia. These were compared with answers given by women investigated and treated, if necessary, as partners of men with sexually transmitted disease (control group). There were statistically significant adverse psychosexual sequelae associated with diagnosis and treatment of pre-invasive cervical epithelial disease.