Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistence is essential for cervical cancer development. We accrued nested-cohort subjects from a population-based study to investigate the host and viral factors related to outcome of HPV infection. Women (age ≥ 30 years old) with HPV-positive but normal cytology and negative colposcopy were invited to participate. After signing informed consent, every participant completed a structured questionnaire and had 6-monthly follow-ups of Pap smear, HPV testing and colposcopy. Total and type-specific HPV clearance rates as well as host and viral factors associated with clearance in 3-year longitudinal followup were analyzed. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of progression to ≥ cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2 according to baseline HPV of the women with normal cytology were calculated from national registry database. Among the 626 eligible women, 526 (median age 47, 29-75) were enrolled and 412 returned for followup at least once. The median follow-up of enrolled subjects was 23 months (range 6.8-39). The 3-year cumulative total HPV clearance rate was 49.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 43.3-54.7%). The median 3-year cumulative type-specific HPV clearance rate was 50.0% (range 0-100.0%) with a median time to clearance of 12.4 months (6.4-24.5). Older age was associated with significantly decreased total HPV clearance and decreased type-specific clearance in HPV-18 and -53, while high viral load was associated with decreased total and type-specific clearance. After adjusting confounding variables, the HR of developing CIN2 in baseline HPVpositive women was 34.0-fold (95% CI: 15.5-74.7) as compared to HPV-negative women. ' 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: human papillomavirus; genotype; viral load; clearance Cervical cancer is one of the leading cancers in female worldwide. 1 There is strong epidemiological and molecular biological evidence indicating that human papillomavirus (HPV) plays a central role in the etiology of cervical cancer. 2,3 Over 90% of cervical cancers and their precursor lesions are attributable to HPV infection. 4,5 However, the prevalence of genital-tract HPV infections has been reported to range from 1.4 to 25.6% in cytologically normal population. 6 It is widely believed that persistent HPV infection is necessary for the development of cervical cancer. 3,7,8 Incorporation of HPV testing into cervical cancer screening has been advocated, although specificity is decreased with expected increase in sensitivity in early detection of high-grade cervical neoplasms. 9-11 However, identifying infection of high-risk HPV causes anxiety in the individual woman. Because of lack of adequate knowledge in predicting outcome, the appropriate management is unclear except periodical follow-up.Several 8,13 HPV variants 17 have been reported associated with HPV persistence/decreased clearance, whereas ever users of oral contraceptives were associated with faster clearance. 15 Multiple infections, viral load 15 and smoking 8 were unrelated to clearance in other longitudinal follow-u...