Background Available data suggest mixed evidence of hormonal contraceptives (HC) on the association with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types, the main cause of cervical cancer. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the use of HC and the prevalence of HPV in unvaccinated Brazilians women aged 16–25 years.

Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data collected from 5,268 sexually active women who participated in the National Survey of Human Papillomavirus Prevalence (POP-Brazil). This survey enrolled participants from all 26 Brazilian capitals and the Federal District. Professionals from primary care units were trained for specimen and data collection. All participants answered a face-to-face questionnaire and provided biological samples for genital HPV analysis. HPV genotyping for HPV types was done using the Roche PCR-based Linear Array Genotyping Test. Sampling weights by sex and age were applied to the data.

Results The majority of the participants use any type of contraception [76.58% (95% CI 74.82 - 78.35)], being 2,577 [47.59% (45.54% – 49.63%)] on hormonal contraceptives. The use of HC was more frequent in older women (≥ 22 years), with higher education, married or living with a partner, and those with less than two sexual partners in the last year. No significant difference was found between the prevalence of high-risk HPV types and the use of HC: 38.57% among users of HC vs. 38.56% among don´t users of HC (p = 0.994). Multivariate analysis showed that HC was not associated with high-risk HPV even after adjusting for age, educational level, presence of partner, smoke, and number of partners.

Conclusion Use of HC was not associated with HPV DNA detection. Even so, more studies are necessary evaluating the type of hormonal contraceptive, as well as length and dose of use.

Disclosure No significant relationships.