The Human Papilloma Virus Effect on Sexual Life

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the most common causes of sexually transmitted diseases and its link with malignancies is well established, especially with anogenital tract cancers (cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal cancers). HPV 16 and 18 are the most commonly isolated HPV types in cervical cancer, however not all infections with HPV 16 or 18 progress to cancer. After the HPV test has been used in cervical cancer screening, there have been concerns about whether women carry this virus. Although HPV testing may cause negative emotional responses, adverse emotional responses are related to HPV infection rather than testing. In this respect, there were several studies which evaluated the quality of life and psychological responses of women with positive HPV test results and it is known that positive HPV test results cause additional anxiety, distress and negative emotional responses in women. We hypothesized that the awareness of having a sexually transmitted infection in women with HPV and, therefore, a close follow-up and the need for further investigation such as colposcopy can affect their sexual life. In this study, we aimed to observe the changes in sexual function and anxiety of the HPV positive women with validated objective tools after being informed about their co-test results.