Abnormal cervical smears in the military recruit population

Human papillomavirus is a common genital tract infection believed to be a causative agent of uterine cervical dysplasia. In a minority of cases, dysplasia progresses to squamous cell carcinoma. We reviewed the cervical smear reports for all female recruits who reported for training at Navy Recruit Training Center, Orlando, in calendar year 1993. During this period, 8,029 female recruits reported for training. We found that 24 recruits (0.30%) had a finding of high-grade squamous intra-epithelial lesion (HSIL); 203 (2.5%) had a finding of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL); 377 (4.7%) had abnormalities other than HSIL or LSIL; and 7,425 (92%) had no abnormalities. These prevalence rates are lower than those reported for other populations.