title: Prevalence and determinants of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in middle-aged Indian women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the prevalence and determinants of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women from West India, although incidence of and mortality from cervical cancer is high.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cervical specimens were collected, and questionnaires on lifestyle and reproductive factors were administered to 27,192 ever-married women aged 30 to 59 years living in a rural area of Maharashtra State, India. HPV-DNA status for high-risk HPV types was assessed using the second-generation hybrid-capture II assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of HPV infection was 10.3% in this population of middle-aged women. High-risk HPV infection was associated with increasing age, low education level, manual work, early age at first sexual intercourse, and widowhood or separation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low socioeconomic status and vulnerable social groups such as widows and separated women are at a higher risk of HPV infection. This study demonstrates once again that HPV infection and subsequent cervical cancer are social diseases.
authors.affiliation: Screening Group, Early Detection and Prevention Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France. sauvagetc@iarc.fr
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauvaget
authors.forename: Bhagwan M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nene
authors.forename: Kasturi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jayant
authors.forename: Rohini
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelkar
authors.forename: Sylla G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Malvi
authors.forename: Surendranath S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shastri
authors.forename: Rengaswamy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sankaranarayanan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000502:physiology*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D017584:Reproductive History; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology