Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is among one of the common infections among the female population and is closely associated with cervical cancer. It has gained attention since the introduction of prophylactic HPV vaccines. However, the epidemiology of HPV infection among the male population in the Asian context remains largely unknown. The worldwide report on the prevalence of HPV infection among men varies depending on the target population and method of sampling. This study aims to determine the knowledge, and site-specific prevalence of anogenital HPV infection, and its associated factors among sexually active men in an urban middle-income Asian setting. The acceptance of self
sampling in HPV infection detection was also examined. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 498 healthy males from three health clinics in Klang Valley, an urban conglomerate in Malaysia, a middle-income Asian country. Study sites were chosen to represent the diverse sociodemographic background of the Malaysian population. A 43-item questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and awareness on HPV. Genital and anal samples were collected for detection of HPV DNA based on specific sites, i.e., penile (shaft, penile glans, corona sulcus, scrotum) and anal. It was found that knowledge on HPV were poor among the males in this study. Overall, 21% (86 out of 410) were positive for penile HPV and 13.5% (50 out of 370) were positive for anal HPV infection. HPV18 was found to be the most oncogenic type in both sites, whereas HPV6 was prevalent in terms of the non-oncogenic types. Penile HPV infection was higher among non-smokers, alcohol consumers and those with a high number of lifetime sexual partners. However, there were no significant predictors of anal HPV infection. It was also noted that participants who were younger and of higher income preferred self-sampling as compared to physician-acquired sampling. The prevalence of HPV infection among sexually active Malaysian men in the urban
setting seem to be notably higher than their female counterparts. Overall, our findings appear to suggest that vaccinating men against HPV infection may confer benefits in the middle-income Asian settings.
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@phdthesis{drph-Mohd-Khairul-Anwar-2024,
title = {Site-Specific Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Infection in Malaysian Men},
author = {Mohd Khairul Anwar Shafii},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-11-11},
abstract = {Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is among one of the common infections among the female population and is closely associated with cervical cancer. It has gained attention since the introduction of prophylactic HPV vaccines. However, the epidemiology of HPV infection among the male population in the Asian context remains largely unknown. The worldwide report on the prevalence of HPV infection among men varies depending on the target population and method of sampling. This study aims to determine the knowledge, and site-specific prevalence of anogenital HPV infection, and its associated factors among sexually active men in an urban middle-income Asian setting. The acceptance of self
sampling in HPV infection detection was also examined. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 498 healthy males from three health clinics in Klang Valley, an urban conglomerate in Malaysia, a middle-income Asian country. Study sites were chosen to represent the diverse sociodemographic background of the Malaysian population. A 43-item questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge and awareness on HPV. Genital and anal samples were collected for detection of HPV DNA based on specific sites, i.e., penile (shaft, penile glans, corona sulcus, scrotum) and anal. It was found that knowledge on HPV were poor among the males in this study. Overall, 21% (86 out of 410) were positive for penile HPV and 13.5% (50 out of 370) were positive for anal HPV infection. HPV18 was found to be the most oncogenic type in both sites, whereas HPV6 was prevalent in terms of the non-oncogenic types. Penile HPV infection was higher among non-smokers, alcohol consumers and those with a high number of lifetime sexual partners. However, there were no significant predictors of anal HPV infection. It was also noted that participants who were younger and of higher income preferred self-sampling as compared to physician-acquired sampling. The prevalence of HPV infection among sexually active Malaysian men in the urban
setting seem to be notably higher than their female counterparts. Overall, our findings appear to suggest that vaccinating men against HPV infection may confer benefits in the middle-income Asian settings.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
