Background:Cervical cancer is the most common gynaecological cancer and a leading cause of cancer death in women in Nigeria. Persistence infection with high risk or oncogenic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types is now known to be a necessary cause of cervical cancer.Methods:This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out to determine the prevalence and distribution of oncogenic HPV infection among women seen at the cytology clinic of a tertiary hospital in Lagos South-west Nigeria and then identify the likely predisposing factors to this infection. Eligible women were selected by consecutive sampling method for the study. Pap smear and endocervical swab samples were collected from each participant. The endocervical swab samples were screened for HPV types 16, 16A, 31, 33 and 35 by the multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using the specific primers for the HPV types.Results: Twenty-four (30.4%) of the 79 tested swab samples were positive for viral DNA of high risk HPV 16. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean ages of participants with positive cervical HPV and those without the infection respectively (34.8 ± 9.9 vs. 46.2 ± 10.1 years; P = 0.028). However, there were no significant differences found between the women with HPV positivity and those without with respect to marital status (P = 0.074), tribe (P = 1.009), religion (P = 0.681) and educational status (P = 0.552). Other identified risk factors that showed statistically significant differences for oncogenic HPV infection were age at sexual debut (P = 0.009), parity (P = 0.003), number of lifetime sexual partner(s) (P = 0.000), use of combined oral contraceptives (P = 0.044), HIV seropositivity (P = 0.000) and smoking (P = 0.033).Conclusion:Cumulative high risk HPV infection is high in Lagos, Nigeria. This thus support the need for routine and early screening of all identified high risk sexually active women for HPV infection in Nigeria, as well as emphasising further the importance of sex education for the girl child in schools and increased awareness for parents towards HPV vaccination for their generally healthy adolescent girls.
