Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa

Abstract Background There is an increased risk of cervical cancer among women living with HIV. While studies have long examined the association between cervical cancer among women with HIV, no study has examined the time taken for women with HIV to undergo cervical cancer screening as well as the ha...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marcus Hollington
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-03-01
Series:Infectious Agents and Cancer
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-023-00527-6
_version_ 1797275870165991424
author Marcus Hollington
author_facet Marcus Hollington
author_sort Marcus Hollington
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background There is an increased risk of cervical cancer among women living with HIV. While studies have long examined the association between cervical cancer among women with HIV, no study has examined the time taken for women with HIV to undergo cervical cancer screening as well as the hazard thereof in South Africa. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from the 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey. To allow for longitudinal analysis and to address the issue of right-censoring, the data were reformatted to a person-data file. The selection criteria were limited to women living with HIV (WLHIV) who had also responded to the question on cervical cancer screening. Descriptive statistics were employed to show the levels of HIV among women aged 15 and older in South Africa. Additionally, Kaplan‒Meier curves were employed to investigate the time to CCS by WLHIV in South Africa. Thereafter, an unadjusted Cox hazards regression model was employed to examine the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV. Finally, it employed an adjusted model to examine the hazard of CCS among WLHIV while adjusting for other factors. Results Nineteen percent (n = 1,159) of the women who participated in the study tested positive for HIV. Herein, it was found that the risk of CCS among WLHIV began at the age of approximately 19 years. Thereafter, the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV began to decrease at 58 years. There was a significant association between CCS and WLHIV. Additionally, several covariates were found to be significantly associated with HIV. These were race, province, area of residence, marriage, educational attainment, employment, alcohol consumption, perceived health perception, and health insurance. Conclusion The hazard of CCS was lower among WLHIV compared to WLHIV who did not undergo CCS in South Africa. This puts HIV-positive women at risk of increased morbidity and mortality from potential cervical cancer and HIV comorbidity due to CCS deficits within this group. This is because they are susceptible to HPV and subsequent cervical cancer due to a compromised immune system. HIV-positive women need to routinely undergo CCS every 12 months from baseline for 3 years. Thereafter, they should undergo CCS once every 3 years to reduce their risk of developing the disease.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T15:19:16Z
format Article
id doaj.art-b06adeff33c246edbf3d67a8ebc00a2d
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1750-9378
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T15:19:16Z
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Infectious Agents and Cancer
spelling doaj.art-b06adeff33c246edbf3d67a8ebc00a2d2024-03-05T17:44:30ZengBMCInfectious Agents and Cancer1750-93782024-03-0119111010.1186/s13027-023-00527-6Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South AfricaMarcus Hollington0Demography and Population Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, School of Public Health & School of Social SciencesAbstract Background There is an increased risk of cervical cancer among women living with HIV. While studies have long examined the association between cervical cancer among women with HIV, no study has examined the time taken for women with HIV to undergo cervical cancer screening as well as the hazard thereof in South Africa. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from the 2016 South Africa Demographic and Health Survey. To allow for longitudinal analysis and to address the issue of right-censoring, the data were reformatted to a person-data file. The selection criteria were limited to women living with HIV (WLHIV) who had also responded to the question on cervical cancer screening. Descriptive statistics were employed to show the levels of HIV among women aged 15 and older in South Africa. Additionally, Kaplan‒Meier curves were employed to investigate the time to CCS by WLHIV in South Africa. Thereafter, an unadjusted Cox hazards regression model was employed to examine the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV. Finally, it employed an adjusted model to examine the hazard of CCS among WLHIV while adjusting for other factors. Results Nineteen percent (n = 1,159) of the women who participated in the study tested positive for HIV. Herein, it was found that the risk of CCS among WLHIV began at the age of approximately 19 years. Thereafter, the hazard of undergoing CCS among WLHIV began to decrease at 58 years. There was a significant association between CCS and WLHIV. Additionally, several covariates were found to be significantly associated with HIV. These were race, province, area of residence, marriage, educational attainment, employment, alcohol consumption, perceived health perception, and health insurance. Conclusion The hazard of CCS was lower among WLHIV compared to WLHIV who did not undergo CCS in South Africa. This puts HIV-positive women at risk of increased morbidity and mortality from potential cervical cancer and HIV comorbidity due to CCS deficits within this group. This is because they are susceptible to HPV and subsequent cervical cancer due to a compromised immune system. HIV-positive women need to routinely undergo CCS every 12 months from baseline for 3 years. Thereafter, they should undergo CCS once every 3 years to reduce their risk of developing the disease.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-023-00527-6Cervical Cancer ScreeningHuman papillomavirusWomen Living with HIVSouth Africa
spellingShingle Marcus Hollington
Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
Infectious Agents and Cancer
Cervical Cancer Screening
Human papillomavirus
Women Living with HIV
South Africa
title Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
title_full Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
title_fullStr Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
title_short Cox proportional hazard-model application: time to cervical cancer screening among women living with HIV in South Africa
title_sort cox proportional hazard model application time to cervical cancer screening among women living with hiv in south africa
topic Cervical Cancer Screening
Human papillomavirus
Women Living with HIV
South Africa
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13027-023-00527-6
work_keys_str_mv AT marcushollington coxproportionalhazardmodelapplicationtimetocervicalcancerscreeningamongwomenlivingwithhivinsouthafrica