Prevalence and Predictors of Precancerous Cervical Lesions Among HIV-positive Women in Jos, North-central Nigeria

Objective: To determine the prevalence and predictors of precancerous cervical lesions among HIV-positive women in Jos, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2017 to January 2018 among 326 HIV-positive women. Cervical smears were collected for examination at the AIDS Preventive Initiative of Nigeria clinics of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BhUTH), Jos, Nigeria. Demographic characteristics of participants were documented using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21.

Results: Of the 326 participants, precancerous cervical lesions were present in 40 (12.2%) women: 4 (1.2%) had atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, 19 (5.8%) had low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, 1 (0.3%) had atypical squamous cells cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, 13 (4.0%) had high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and 3 (0.9%) had high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, suspected for invasion. The multivariate logistics regression model showed that parity (odds ratio 3.4, 95% confidence interval 1.3-9.5, P=0.043) was a significant predictor of precancerous cervical lesions.

Conclusion: The prevalence of precancerous cervical lesions among HIV-infected women is relatively low compared to earlier reported prevalence in an HIV population in Jos. Increasing parity was a significant predictor.