The Prevalence of Human Papilloma Virus in Turkish Women

Background/Objectives: The prevalence of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in Türkiye may vary from that reported in other countries. Determining the age-specific distribution of HPV infection and its overall prevalence in all tested individuals, supported by a large sample size, would provide valuable insights for HPV prevention programs. This study aims to determine the regional prevalence of HPV infection. Methods: This is a retrospective study containing data from 52,930 patients who underwent HPV testing at a tertiary hospital between 2016 and 2024. Patients aged 21 to 65 were included in the study. Target DNA amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nucleic acid hybridization techniques were performed for the identification of HPV. Overall prevalence, age-specific prevalence, and genotype distribution were examined. Results: Analysis of genotype distribution revealed that isolated HPV16 positivity was 4.0% (n = 2118), isolated HPV18 positivity was 1.0% (n = 528), and isolated other high-risk (HR) HPV types (excluding HPV16 and HPV18) were detected in 10.8% (n = 5693) of patients. The co-positivity rates were as follows: HPV16 and HPV18 in 0.4% (n = 237), HPV16 and HR-HPV other in 2.3% (n = 1197), HPV18 and HR-HPV other in 1.0% (n = 513), and HPV16, HPV18, and HR-HPV other in 0.3% (n = 145). Conclusions: This study highlights that HPV positivity is higher among individuals aged 21-24 years in our population, the overall prevalence is broadly consistent with the range reported in previous Turkish and international studies, and the pooled other HR-HPV group was more frequent than HPV16 or HPV18 individually.