The association between HIV infection and precancerous cervical lesion. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of case–control studies

BACKGROUND: The effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on precancerous cervical lesion is not consistent across studies. Besides to the variability in the presence of a significant association between HIV and precancerous cervical lesion, the reported strengths are inconsistent among studies that report a significant association. Therefore, we sought to determine the impact of HIV on women's risk of precancerous cervical lesion by conducting a systematic review and meta‐analysis of case–control studies in Ethiopia. METHODS: Relevant articles were systematically searched on African Journals Online, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed from January 1, 2023, to February 20, 2023. After critical appraisal, pertinent data were extracted into an Excel spreadsheet and then exported to STATA 14 for further statistical analysis. The pooled effect size was estimated using the random‐effect model. The Egger's regression test and I (2) statistics were employed to assess publication bias and heterogeneity among included studies, respectively. RESULTS: Ten case–control studies with a total of 3035 participants (992 cases and 2043 controls) were involved in this meta‐analysis. According to our analysis, HIV‐infected women were 2.86 times more likely to develop precancerous cervical lesion as compared with their counterparts (odds ratio: 2.86, 95% confidence interval: 1.79, 4.58). CONCLUSION: We found that HIV‐infected women have a higher risk of precancerous cervical lesion. Thus, targeted screening programs should be considered to reduce the burden of cervical cancer among HIV‐infected women in Ethiopia.