Prevalence of Different Human Papillomavirus Genotypes and Their Relationship with Pap Smear Test Results in Mashhad, Iran

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main cause of cervical cancer. Awareness of the prevalence of different HPV genotypes in Iran will facilitate implementation of national prevention and vaccination programs. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HPV infection and the association of different genotypes with Pap smear results.

In this cross-sectional study, 502 married women attending Central Laboratory of Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research in Mashhad were selected by non-probability easy sampling in 2018-2019. Cervical cytology specimens were examined for 32 different HPV genotypes using PCR and hybridization. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Fisherchr('39')s exact tests were used to analyze the data.

Out of 502 samples 26.5% were infected with HPV. The most common genotypes in all HPV+ samples were the low risk genotype 6 (35.3%) and the high risk genotype 16 (17.3%). According to findings, HPV infection and the HPV genotype were significantly associated with progression of cellular changes to abnormality (P<0.05).

Due to the high prevalence of HPV in population studied, earlier diagnosis and genotyping of HPV could be helpful in preventing cervical malignancies.