Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Women Undergoing Treatment for Cervical Neoplasia: Prevalence and the Feasibility of Routine Screening

Abstract

This study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectionand the feasibility of routine HIV screening in women undergoing various treatment of cervical neoplasia atChiang Mai University Hospital between October 2004 and October 2006. Four hundred and ninety five womenwere recruited for HIV screening with the opt-out approach performed. In this study, thirty-seven (7.47%)women had a previous diagnosis of HIV infection with a mean duration 4.16 years (range: 1-15 years). Theremaining 458 women consented to have an HIV test. Six women (1.31%) were newly identified as HIVseropositive, giving an overall prevalence of 8.69%. In conclusion, the prevalence of HIV infection in this studywas considerably high and routine HIV screening is feasible because of the high acceptance rate.