The Relation of Age on HIV-Positive Women's Cluster of Differentiation 4, Antiretroviral Therapy, Papanicolaou Test, Human Papillomavirus test and Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid.

Abstract

Despite increased life expectancy, mortality rates among women infected with HIV are 3-15 times higher than those in the overall population, HIV-infected women are also excessively affected by HPV and have increased risks of HPV-associated developments. This study's objective is to examine the relation between the ART treatment, CD4 levels, Pap, HPV and VIA tests with p16 detection among HIV-infected women. The data used in this study was collected by survey questionnaire instruments in 2009 in Kenya. Descriptive and explanatory statistics using frequency and chi-square/fisher's exact tests were performed for analysis using SAS-software. The data was stratified by age groups (30-39, 40-49, and 50 years and older). 75.28% of single HIV-positive women between the ages 30-39 participated significantly in the study, with a p-value of <0.0001. 52.24% of HIV-positive women 30-39 years old were most likely to receive ART treatment for less than two years by a margin of 11.2% compared to those who received the treatment for more than two years and those who were off treatment by a margin of 2.24% (p-value of 0.03). The HIV-positive women 30-39 years old had lower CD4 counts of less than 350 cells/μl (44%) and higher CD4 counts of 500 cells/μl or higher (46.64%). 45.3% of the HIV-positive women 30-39 years old were more likely to have positive VIA tests with a p-value of 0.05. 65.87% of HIV-positive women 30-39 years old were most likely to have positive VIA tests with a p-value of <0.05. HIV-positive women 30-39 years old were most likely to have high-risk HPV compared to their older counterparts. This study shows that incorporating screening strategies (Pap tests, VIA tests and HPV genotyping) in conjunction with ART treatment were more effective in preventing cervical cancer in HIV-positive young women 30-39 years old.