title: Predictors of abnormal cervical cytology: statistical analysis of human papillomavirus and cofactors.
abstract: Reported increases in the incidence of human papillomavirus infection have generated speculation that cervical cytological abnormalities may also be increasing. A 10-year retrospective study of cervical cytology in 2,919 college women demonstrated a significant increase in the frequency and severity of cervical-cytological abnormalities (p - 0.0001). The peak year for abnormal cervical cytology coincided with the peak year for overt human papillomavirus infection. Women with papillomarivus, genital herpes and who were also smokers had mean cervical-cytology scores significantly worse than those with none of these risk factors (p - 0.00001). A stepwise regression analysis of abnormal cytology from recorded risk factors accounted for only 10 percent of the variance, with human papillomavirus accounting for 8 percent of the total. If human papillomavirus is indeed responsibile for the majority of abnormalities, this infection is not detected reliably through routine examination and cervical-cytology screening [corrected].
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Schaffer
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Philput
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003218:Condylomata Acuminata / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015144:Southeastern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D013333:Student Health Services; D014495:Universities; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends