Objective

This study aimed to describe the prevalence and concordance between cervical and anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and compare cervicovaginal and anal self-collection methods for HPV testing between physician and self-collected specimens in women in Puerto Rico.

Materials and methods

Specimens for HPV-DNA testing were obtained from 100 women aged 18 to 34 years attending a general gynecology clinic for a routine Pap smear. Human papillomavirus testing was performed using polymerase chain reaction MY09/MY11 primers. Positive samples were typed for 39 genotypes. Agreement between sampling methods was determined by percent agreement and the κ statistic.

Results

For the 39 genotypes evaluated, 38.4% (38/99) of cervicovaginal and 33.7% (30/89) of anal physician-collected samples were HPV+, whereas 35.1% (34/97) of cervicovaginal and 32.0% (31/97) of anal self-collected samples were positive. Human papillomavirus type 16 was the most common type identified in the cervix (8.3%, 8/97) and the anus (5.6%, 5/89) of physician-collected samples, with similar prevalence in self-collected samples. Concordance between cervical and anal HPV infection was high (>90%) for all types evaluated. There was a strong percent agreement between physician- and self-collected cervicovaginal and anal samples (>95% for all HPV types) and good to excellent agreement (κ > 0.60) for most HPV types.

Conclusions

The clinic-based prevalence of anal and cervicovaginal HPV infection was high, with a strong concordance between cervical and anal infection and good to excellent agreement between physician- and self-collected samples. This study supports the feasibility of using cervical and anal self-sampling methods in future population-based studies of HPV infection in Puerto Rico and as an HPV screening method in women.