Objective: To examine the association of potentially modifiable factors such as condom use, sexual behaviors, and concurrent sexually transmitted infections with duration of genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections among adolescent women.
Design: Longitudinal observational study.
Setting: Study conducted at 3 inner-city clinics in Indianapolis, Ind.
Participants: Forty-nine HPV-positive adolescents were tested frequently for HPV infection and provided sexual behavior diaries. Main Exposures Condom use, sexual behaviors, number of partners, and concurrent infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Trichomonas vaginalis.
Main outcome measures: Time from onset to clearance of type-specific HPV infections was analyzed with proportional hazard models. Adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) were used to assess the effects of risk factors on the duration of HPV infection. Because viral clearance is a preferred outcome, a variable with an AHR less than 1 was considered a risk factor (ie, associated with reduced chance of viral clearance and prolonged infection).
Results: Prolonged HPV infection was associated with oncogenic HPV types (AHR, 0.58 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39-0.84]) less than median level of condom use during an HPV infection (AHR, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.33-0.84]) and coinfection with C trachomatis (AHR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.31-0.89]) or T vaginalis (AHR, 0.32 [95% CI, 0.16-0.64]). Not having multiple sexual partners during an HPV infection was associated with early HPV clearance (AHR, 5.52 [95% CI, 3.28-9.30]).
Conclusions: These findings support public health messages of reducing the number of sexual partners, promoting routine condom use, and frequent sexually transmitted infection screening that may be beneficial with HPV infections.