Abstract:
Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated
570,000 new cases in 2018 representing 6.6% of all female cancers occurred in low and middle income countries. The prevalence of precancerous cervical lesion is not investigated before in
Saint Peter Specialized Hospital.
Objectives: This study aimed to assess the magnitude of precancerous cervical lesions and associated
factors among adult women with human immune deficiency virus on Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) at
Saint Peter Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from November to July , 2020.
Methods and materials: A Hospital - based cross - sectional study. Data were collected using
face-to-face interview and squamo-columnar junction was examined by inserting Un-lubricated
bivalve speculum into the vagina and cervix and visualized with the help of halogen focus lamp.
Visual inspection with acetic acid methos was used for precancerous cervical lesion screening.
The collected data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis were
used to identify factors associated with the precancerous cervical lesion. Statistical significance
was considered at P-valve less than 0.05.
Results: A total of 267 women who were on ART were included in the study and the magnitude
of precancerous cervical lesion was 7.5% with 95%CI 4.10%-10.5%. Modern family planning
non-users (AOR=4.14; 95%CI=1.23-13.87), history of sexual transmission infection (STI)
(AOR=5.39; 95% CI= 1.56-18.70) and high viral load (AOR=20.84; 95% CI= 6.18-70.25) had
significant association with precancerous cervical lesion.
Conclusion: The magnitude of precancerous cervical lesion in the study area is relatively low
compared to studies in low and middle income countries. Modern family planning , history of
Sexual Transmitted Infection and viral load had a significant association with the precancerous
cervical lesion.
