Higher prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in adolescent and young adult girls belonging to different Indian tribes with varied socio-sexual lifestyle.

Despite high prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cervical cancer in Indian women, no study has been done in tribal populations whose socio-sexual lifestyle is different. Therefore, HPV screening has been carried out in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult tribal girls using self-collected urine samples.20-35 ml self-collected midstream urine samples were obtained from a total of 2278 healthy tribal girls (9-25 years) comprising pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adults from three Indian states: Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. β-globin positive 2034 samples were employed for HPV detection and genotyping.The overall prevalence of HPV infection in tribal girls was 12.9% (262/2034). More than 65% (172/262) of them were infected with HR-HPV types of which HPV16 was the most predominant type (54%). Young adult girls aged 18-25 years showed a significantly higher prevalence of HPV infection (19.2%; OR = 3.36; 95% CI 2.97-6.34, P<0.001) as compared to that in adolescent (11.4%; OR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.20-2.76, P<0.01) or pre-adolescent girls (6.6%).This is a first study showing significantly a very high prevalence of HPV infection in adolescent and young adult tribal girls possibly due to different socio-sexual behavior, indicating a serious health concern for Indian tribal women

HPV prevalence and Odds Ratio for HPV prevalence among tribal girls using multivariate analysis.

<p>HPV prevalence and Odds Ratio for HPV prevalence among tribal girls using multivariate analysis.</p

Flow diagram showing design and outcome of the study.

<p>* 9–12 years, ** 13–17 years, ***18–25 years.</p

Map of India showing location of three different states (shaded areas) where the study was conducted on eight different tribes.

<p>The locations of different tribal communities have also been shown by specific symbols.</p

Prevalence of HPV and their genotypes in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult tribal girls of India.

<p>Prevalence of HPV and their genotypes in pre-adolescent, adolescent and young adult tribal girls of India.</p

Multiple regression analysis of various factors studied with HPV infection in tribal girls (9–25 years).

<p>Multiple regression analysis of various factors studied with HPV infection in tribal girls (9–25 years).</p