Socio-demographic characteristics associated with high risk Human Papilloma Virus infection among reproductive women in Imo state Nigeria – a cross sectional study

Background: It has been established that hrHPV (High Risk Human Papilloma Virus) infection is necessary for cervical cancer. There are geographical and temporal determinants that affect the risk factors and ultimately the incidence and distribution of cervical cancer. Knowledge of socio demographic characteristics of those infected with High Risk Human Papilloma Virus is indispensable in planning and making policy decisions in the prevention of cervical cancer as well as in research on the subject matter. Materials and methods: This was a secondary analysis of a cross sectional population based study of women who had HPV DNA typing following community outreaches for women in Imo state-Nigeria between February and June 2023. A structured questionnaire was administered to the women by an interviewer and their responses noted. Speculum examinations was done for the purposes of collecting dry swab specimen for hr HPV DNA typing. Data analyses was done with SPSS version 26 IBM and socio-demographic variables were analyzed for any association with the HPV results using the χ2 test for categorical variables. Results Prevalence of high risk HPV infection was 43.6%. The significant characteristics such as occupation (P = 0.015, χ2 = 19.060, d.f = 8), ethnicity (P = 0.035) and the place of residence (P = 0.038, χ2 = 4.321, d.f = 1) showed significant association with the HPV infection. Associated reproductive factors of hrHPV infection in this study included coitarche (P = 0.040, χ ²  = 8.336), number of pregnancies in the past (P = 0.008, χ ²  = 13.80), number of living children (P = 0.003, χ ²  = 16.02) and number of sexual partners (P = 0.012, χ ²  = 12.88). Others include: frequency of genital tract infections (P = 0.019, χ ²  = 11.80) and type of genital tract infection had (P = 0.001, χ ²  = 21.88). Behavioral characteristics associated with HPV infection included use of habit forming drugs (P = 0.001, χ ²  = 13.79) and use of tobacco (P = 0.017, χ ²  = 8.117). Conclusion Prevalence of hrHPV is high in this study and knowledge of socio-demographic determinants will be very useful in primary prevention of cervical cancer using lifestyle changes. Trial registration Ethical approval was obtained from the Federal Medical Centre institutional review board ref FMC/OW/HREC/VOL.II/053.