Differences between African American adolescent females with and without Human Papillomavirus infection

Differences Between African American Adolescent Females With and Without Human Papillomavirus Infection

Objectives: An important policy question is whether high-risk populations of adolescent females can be identified and prioritized for HPV immunization. We investigated differences in sexual risk behaviors between 133 African American adolescent females testing positive for one or more of 18 HPV subtypes and 164 testing negative for each subtype. Methods: Data collection included a) an audio-computer assisted self-interview and a self-collected vaginal swab for nucleic acid amplification testing of Trichomonas vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The Gen-Probe Aptima Combo 2 assay was used to detect 18 subtypes of human Papillomavirus. Results: Groups did not differ by prevalence of other STDs (P=.31). Moreover, they did not differ by whether they had sex with older (by 5 or more years) male partners (P=.90), whether the currently had sex with casual partners (P=.78), whether they had any unprotected vaginal sex in the past 60 days (P=.92), or the frequency of engaging in vaginal sex in the past 60 days (P=.56). Differences were not found regarding number of male sex partners in the past 60 days (P=.69) or the number of partners accumulated over the lifetime (P=.10). However, age was significantly different with those testing positive being younger (mean=17.7 years) than those testing negative (mean=18.7 years) (P=.03). Conclusion: The weight of evidence suggests that among African American adolescent females it may not be possible to identify those with elevated risk of HPV acquisition. Thus, vaccination of African American adolescent females, regardless of risk indicators, may be the most efficacious public health strategy.