@article {M.:1 September 2003:0002-9262:486, author = "M. Molano", author = "A. van den Brule", author = "M. Plummer", author = "E. Weiderpass", author = "H. Posso", author = "A. Arslan", author = "C.J.L.M. Meijer", author = "N. Munoz", author = "S. Franceschi", title = "Determinants of Clearance of Human Papillomavirus Infections in Colombian Women with Normal Cytology: A Population-based, 5-Year Follow-up Study", journal = "American Journal of Epidemiology", volume = "158", year = "1 September 2003", abstract = "

Little is known about the factors that influence clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV), the primary cause of cervical carcinoma. A total of 227 women cytologically normal and HPV positive at baseline were identified from a population-based cohort of 1,995 Bogota, Colombia, women aged 13–85 years followed between 1993 and 2000 (mean follow-up, 5.3 years). HPV DNA detection and viral load determination were based on a GP5+/GP6+ polymerase chain reaction enzyme immunoassay. Rate ratio estimates for HPV clearance were calculated by using methods for interval-censored survival time data. Analyses were based on 316 type-specific HPV infections. HPV 16 had a significantly lower clearance rate than infections with low-risk types (rate ratio (RR) = 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.32, 0.72), HPV types related to HPV 16 (types 31, 33, 35, 52, 58) had intermediate clearance rates (RR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.94), and other high-risk types did not show evidence of slower clearance compared with low-risk types. Infections with single and multiple HPV types had similar clearance rates. There was no evidence of a dose-response relation between clearance and viral load. Observed was slower clearance in parous women (RR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.89) and faster clearance in ever users of oral contraceptives (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.77).", pages = "486-494(9)", url = "http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oup/aje/2003/00000158/00000005/art00486" }