Characteristics of women under 20 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

The relationship between risk of cervical neoplasia and various sociodemographic, reproductive and sexual characteristics was studied in 126 women (cases) with an abnormal Papanicolaou test finding and 1914 controls seen at the same clinic in which cases were detected but showing no evidence of cervical neoplasia. All the subjects of this study were under the age of 20. Number of sexual partners and clinical occurrence of genital warts emerged as the most important determinants of the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in these very young women (Relative Risk (RR) for three or more sexual partners = 2.45, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.63-3.70, RR for occurrence of genital warts, adjusted for number of sexual partners = 9.15, 95% CI: 5.06-16.26). Also having grown up in a 'problem' family seemed to increase the probability of developing CIN (RR adjusted for number of partners = 1.64, 95% CI 1.06-2.52). For all other investigated characteristics, cases and controls were remarkably similar. These include socioeconomic status, parity, smoking habits, use of various contraceptive methods and also indicators of sexual activity such as age of first having sexual intercourse, and duration and frequency of intercourse. Although this group of women under 20 only allows the study of less severe precursors of cervical cancer, it helps to highlight the earliest effect of purported risk factors for cervical neoplasia, chiefly sexual habits, at a time very close to their being established.