Risk factors for genital HPV DNA in men resemble those found in women: a study of male attendees at a Danish STD clinic

Abstract

Objectives: Genital infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most important risk factor for cervical cancer. The male sexual partner is supposed to be the vector of the infection. However, the knowledge of risk factors for genital HPV DNA in men is limited. The objective of this paper is to study the risk factors for HPV infection in men and to compare them with those found in women, including the study of whether there are different risk profiles for oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types. Methods: From a sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic in Denmark, 216 men were consecutively included. A personal interview was done and material for genital HPV DNA detection was obtained with swabs. HPV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Odds ratios (OR) for HPV as well as for oncogenic and non-oncogenic types separately were computed with a 95% confidence interval (CI) by means of unconditional multiple logistic regresssion. Results:The most important predictors of any HPV were lifetime number of sex partners (OR = 4.3; 95% CI 1.4 to 13.1 for 25-39 v 1-9 partners), young age, and being uncircumcised. The most important risk factor for oncogenic HPV types was lifetime number of partners, whereas number of partners in the past year and ever having genital warts were risk factors for the non-oncogenic HPV types. Young age predicted risk of both oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types. Conclusions: Most risk factors for HPV DNA detection in men resemble those found in women. As in women, the risk factor profile for the oncogenic HPV types was different from that of the non-oncogenic HPV types. G enital infection with certain human papillomavirus (HPV) types, especially HPV 16, has consistently been reported as the most important risk factor for cervical neoplasia 1 and the male sexual partner has been implicated as the vector of the virus.2 Variables such as age, proximity to first intercourse, and number of male sexual partners (during lifetime and more recently) have consistently been found to predict risk of genital HPV detection in women.3-7 Furthermore, in women, there seems to be different profiles of risk factors for acquiring oncogenic HPV types and non-oncogenic HPV types. [8][9][10][11] In men, however, only few studies have focused on risk factors for genital HPV DNA detection and they have shown association to variables related to sexual behavior such as multiple sexual partners, previous sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and non-use of condoms.12 13 Studies of risk factors in men for genital infection with oncogenic HPV types and non-oncogenic HPV types as separate groups have not been done. To improve the understanding of the natural history of genital HPV infection it is important to know if there is gender related differences in the determinants for the infection. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the risk factors for HPV infection in men and to compare them with those previously described in women. Moreover, it was the goal to compare the r...

Prevalence and determinants of human papillomavirus infection in men attending vasectomy clinics in Mexico

“…9,13,14,17 In the study of Mexican soldiers, for instance, the OR for HPV positivity among men who reported a number of lifetime sexual partners over 5 vs. 1 was only 1.3 (nonsignificant). 17 As already noted, 24 the apparent association of HPV positivity with sexual behavior tends to weaken in studies of high-risk populations or subpopulations where the background prevalence of HPV is very high.…”

“…9,10 However, contrary to the relatively large amount of information on genital HPV infection in women, 2,11 large studies on HPV prevalence in the general male population are few. Furthermore, the majority of studies in men have focused on young individuals 12 or high-risk populations [e.g., men attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics 9,13,14 or enrolled in military service [15][16][17].…”

Human Papillomavirus Infection in Men Attending a Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic

“…In STD clinics in Greenland and Denmark, HPV prevalence among men was 45%-49%, whereas, in a Swedish STD clinic, HPV prevalence was 13% [12,29,30]. In an international case-control study that investigated the HPV prevalence among the male partners of women with and without cervical cancer, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) investigators found penile HPV DNA in 3.5%-39.0% of the control husbands and 12.0%-36.0% of husbands of the case patients, with prevalence varying significantly by country [15,16].…”

Prevalencia de la infección genital por virus papiloma humano en hombres universitarios voluntarios de la IX Región, Chile

“…Factores de riesgo asociados de manera directa con infecciones por VPH BR son juventud del individuo, historia o presencia de verrugas genitales y número de parejas sexuales 15,17 .…”

“…Las técnicas de PCR presentan ventajas frente a la CH II, ya que puede identificar tipos específicos de VPH y diferenciar infecciones por VPH de AR y BR 12 . Para recolectar las células exfoliadas se han utilizado tórulas de algodón, cepillos y papeles abrasivos [13][14][15][16][17] . Las muestras de orina se han usado, pero con resultados deficientes 18,19 .…”