Characteristics of women with AIDS and invasive cervical cancer

To characterize women reported with AIDS and invasive cervical cancer in the first year of the expanded AIDS surveillance case definition.

Using X2 testing and logistic regression, we compared women with invasive cervical cancer with those having other AIDS-defining illnesses.

Of the 16,794 women 13 years old or older and reported with AIDS in 1993, 217 (1.3%) had invasive cervical cancer and 9113 (54.3%) had other opportunistic illnesses; the remaining 7464 (44.4%) had no opportunistic illnesses and were reported based on immunologic criteria. Women with invasive cervical cancer were more likely to have had AIDS diagnosed before 1993 (73 and 56%, respectively; P < .01), to be younger (median age 33 and 35 years; P < .001), to be white (31 and 21%; P < .01), and to reside in the south (41 and 34%; P < .05). Among women reported with CD4+ counts, the median value was higher in 149 women with invasive cervical cancer than in the 5993 with other opportunistic illnesses (153 and 50 cells/microL, respectively). Women with invasive cervical cancer were more likely to report injection drug use (57 and 48%; P < .05). In multivariate analysis, Hispanic women were 0.6 times less likely to be reported with invasive cervical cancer than were white women (P < .05). Among women infected through injecting drug use, black women were 0.5 times less likely to be reported with invasive cervical cancer (P < .001).

Hispanic and black women infected with HIV were less likely to be reported with invasive cervical cancer, a finding that may be associated with inadequate access to health care services. Women with invasive cervical cancer were less severely immunosuppressed than women with other AIDS opportunistic illnesses.