PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS WITH PRECANCEROUS CERVICAL LESIONS AMONG HIV-INFECTED WOMEN IN ASCH AND MGH TIGRAY NORTHERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background; Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. The majority of the cases are found in developing countries. The increasing risk of cervical cancer prevalence and growing danger of death from cervical cancer and the high occurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women who are HIV positive give us the ground to study the prevalence and associated factors of precancerous cervical lesion . Objective; to assess the prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion screening and associated factors among HIV-positive women attending the Adult ART clinic at the Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital and Mekelle general Hospital. Methodology; An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January1, 2025 – July 30, 2025 G.C, among 229 adult HIV positive women at ART clinic at Ayder comprehensive specialized Hospital and Mekelle general hospital. Data was collected and entered into 3.5.1 Epi-data and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.0 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify factors associated with the precancerous cervical lesion. Statistical significance was considered at a P-valve less than 0.05. Result; A total of 229 women who were on ART were included in the study and the prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion was 18.3 % with 95% CI =13.8–23.9 24.10%-10.50%. Current 2nd line drug regimen (AOR =0.3, 95%CI=0.06-0.9), history of sexual transmission infection (STI) (AOR=3.62, 95% CI= 1.42-9.4), current WHO clinical staging II (AOR=3.56, 95% CI =1.6-7.6 and HPV infection) (AOR=40, 95% CI= 7.7-208) had significant association with precancerous cervical lesion. Conclusion; the prevalence of precancerous cervical lesions in this study was high. History of STI, Current drug regimen, current WHO clinical staging HPV infection were strongly associated with precancerous cervical lesions among women with human immunodeficiency virus.