Associations of sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis with abnormal cervical cytology: A cross-sectional survey with 9090 community women in China

BackgroundAlthough it is well acknowledged that persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus types in genital sites plays a crucial role in the development of squamous cell cervical carcinoma, there is no unanimous consensus on the association between non-HPV sexually transmitted infections and abnormal cervical cytology.MethodsIn the present study, we evaluated cervical cytology status, sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis status, and collected social-demographic information among recruited participants to explore the association of STIs and bacterial vaginosis with abnormal cervical cytology.Results9,090 women’s specimens were successfully tested, with a total of 8,733 (96.1%) women had normal cytology and 357 (3.9%) women exhibited abnormal cytology. The prevalence of HPV, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and bacterial vaginosis was significantly higher in the ≥ASC-US group than the NILM group (PNeisseria gonorrhoeae infection (AOR = 5.30, 95% CIs = 1.30–21.51, P = 0.020) or bacterial vaginosis (AOR = 1.94, 95% CIs = 1.08–3.47, P = 0.026) exhibited an increased risk of abnormal cervical cytology after adjusted for carcinogenic HPV-positive status.ConclusionsOur results demonstrated that Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in genital sites and/or bacterial vaginosis may independently increase the risk for cervical cytology abnormalities after adjusted for carcinogenic HPV-positive status. Besides, these results improved our understanding of the etiology of abnormal cervical cytology and may be useful for the management of women with ASC-US cytology.