Prevalence and distribution of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus and cytological abnormalities in women living with HIV in Denmark – the SHADE

BACKGROUND: Women living with HIV (WLWH) are at increased risk of persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer compared with women from the general population (WGP). We assessed the prevalence and distribution of cervical high-risk (hr) HPV infection and cytological abnormalities in WLWH compared with WGP in Denmark. Predictors of HPV and cytological abnormalities were estimated in WLWH. METHODS: WLWH consecutively enrolled in the Study on HIV, cervical Abnormalities and infections in women in Denmark (SHADE) in 2011 and were examined for cervical HPV and cytological abnormalities. WLWH were matched on age and prior cytological findings with WGP from an earlier study. HIV demographics were retrieved from the nationwide Danish HIV Cohort Study. Logistic regression was used to estimate predictors of hrHPV and cytological abnormalities. RESULTS: Of 334 included WLWH 26.4 % were positive for hrHPV as opposed to 16.6 % WGP (p < 0.0001). WLWH had a higher number of multiple infections (>1 h genotype present) (38.5 % versus 25.7 %, p = 0.030). Hr genotypes in descending order of frequency were HPV58 (7.1 %), 52 (5.4 %), and 16 (4.8 %) in WLWH versus HPV16 (4.1 %), 52 (2.8 %) and 58 (2.4 %) in WGP. Predictors of hrHPV in WLWH were short duration of HAART (adjusted OR per year 0.90 (95 % CI 0.84-0.96)), AIDS prior to inclusion (adjusted OR 3.61 (95 % CI 1.75-7.46)), ≥5 lifetime sexual partners (adjusted OR 2.20 (95 % CI 1.08-4.49)), sexual debut <16 years of age (adjusted OR 2.05 (95 % CI 1.03-4.10)) and CD4 < 350 cells/μL (adjusted OR 2.53 (95 % CI 1.20-5.40)). Cytological abnormalities were prevalent in 10.4 % vs. 5.2 % (p = 0.0003) of WLWH and WGP. In WLWH with hrHPV, short duration of HAART predicted cervical dysplasia (adjusted OR per year 0.83 (95 % CI 0.71-0.97)). CONCLUSIONS: WLWH presented with more cervical hrHPV infections and cytological abnormalities, and a different distribution of hrHPV genotypes compared with WGP. Cervical hrHPV and cytological abnormalities were predicted by short duration of HAART. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2881-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.