ABSTRACT
Background and objectives. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most commonly sexually transmitted infection. Recent evidence suggests that an HPV infection may affect fertility. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of HPV infections among couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and to identify their awareness of HPV. Material and Methods. A total of 200 samples were collected from couples who received IVF treatment during 2017-2018 in Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos (VUH SK) Santaros Fertility Centre (SFC). For HPV detection, cervical swabs from women and sperm samples from men were taken and a real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for the identification of 14 high-risk HPV types. Sperm parameters were evaluated according to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for 2010. Research subjects answered an anonymous questionnaire to ascertain their knowledge of HPV. Results. After testing of HPV in couples undergoing IVF, it was found that 33 out of 100 couples (33%) were HPV positive. Of these, 19% of women (19/100) and 20% of men (20/100) tested positive. Using Fisher's exact test, a statistically significant difference was found between HPV infections and abnormal sperm quality parameters (p = 0.023). Conclusions. HPV may have an impact in spermatogenesis, because an HPV infection was more frequently detected in men with abnormal sperm parameters. High-risk HPV 52 was the most common genotype among couples undergoing IVF treatment.
Subject(s)
Infertility/etiology , Papillomavirus Infections/complications , Adult , DNA Fingerprinting/methods , Female , Humans , Infertility/epidemiology , Infertility/genetics , Lithuania/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Papillomaviridae/genetics , Papillomavirus Infections/epidemiology , Papillomavirus Infections/genetics , Prevalence , Spermatozoa/microbiology , Vaginal Smears/methodsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: High participation rates are an essential component of an effective screening programme and many approaches were introduced as being successful for enhancing compliance to screening guidelines. The aim of this study was to evaluate to which extent a personal invitation by mail increases the rate of attendance in a cervical cancer screening programme in a primary health care centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out as a pilot project to gain insight into feasibility of applying a well-known compliance increasing measure in Lithuanian population. The study included a sample of women registered at the primary health care centre in Panevezys who had not participated in the cervical cancer screening programme for six and more years. Personal registered invitation letters to attend the primary health care centre for a Pap smear were sent out to 1789 women by mail. RESULTS: In total, 2195 women were tested during 2011 at the primary health care centre. 487 (22.2%) of them attended the screening programme after receiving a personal invitation letter. Response rate for attending screening after receiving a personal invitation letter was 27.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that personal invitation letters addressed to long-term non-attendees could markedly increase participation in cervical cancer screening in Lithuania.