Sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical risk factors associated with cervical dysplasia: A case-control study

Cervical dysplasia is a precursor lesion of cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in women, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to identify the risk factors associated with the development of cervical dysplasia in women treated at the Santa María del Socorro Hospital in Ica, Peru, between 2017 and 2019.

An observational case-control study was conducted with 92 cases of women with confirmed high-grade intraepithelial lesion and 184 controls with consecutive negative results in Pap smears. Sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical data were collected. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with precancerous cervical lesions.

The factors significantly associated with cervical dysplasia were age under 35 years (odds ratio: 1.2; 95% confidence interval: 0.1 to 0.7), having a partner (7.4; 2.3 to 23.5), body mass index ≥ 25 (12.9; 3.9 to 42.0), more than three sexual partners (71.4; 16.4 to 310.9), bacterial vaginosis (101.2; 12.2 to 838.2), grand multiparity (39.0; 7.1 to 225.4), rural origin (0.2; 0.1 to 0.8), use of injectables (0.2; 0.1 to 0.6), and intrauterine devide (0.04; 0.01 to 0.2).

Identifying these risk factors is crucial for cervical cancer prevention. It is recommended to implement early detection programs targeted at women with risk factors, especially those under 35 years and with multiple sexual partners.