Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer: Results from a Hospital-Based Case-Control Study

The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors for cervical cancer in Turkish women. In a hospital-based case-control study in Istanbul, 209 patients with histologically confirmed cervical cancer were compared with 1050 controls, who were admitted to the different departments of the same hospital. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (Cl) were obtained from multivariate logistic regression analysis, fitted by the method of maximum likelihood. Risk factors for cervical cancer were found to be early age at first sexual intercourse (OR = 58.07, 95% Cl: 27.88-120.95) and history of genital infection (OR = 5.17, 95% Cl: 3.51-7.60). However, compared with controls, it was found that cases including higher education (OR = 0.18, 95% Cl: 0.10-0.30), non-married (OR = 0.07, 95% Cl: 0.04-0.12) and non-use of alcohol (OR = 0.30, 95% Cl: 0.14-0.65) had a decreased risk for cervical cancer. Our results are supportive of the hypothesis that early age at first sexual intercourse and history of genital infection is related with the risk factors for cervical cancer. Therefore, monogamy, late commencement of sexual activity, personal hygiene and use of barrier contraceptive methods help towards primary prevention.