Adverse Psychosexual Impact Related to the Treatment of Genital Warts and Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Objective. To compare the psychosexual impact related to the treatment of genital warts and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in women. Methods. 75 patients presenting with HPV-induced genital lesions, belonging to one of two patient groups, were included in the study: 29 individuals with genital warts (GWs) and 46 individuals with CIN grades 2 or 3 (CIN 2/3). Initially, medical charts of each woman were examined for extraction of data on the type of HPV-induced infection and treatment administered. Subjects were interviewed to collect sociodemographic data as well as personal, gynecologic, obstetric, and sexual history. After this initial anamnesis, the Sexual Quotient-Female Version (SQ-F) questionnaire was applied to assess sexual function. After application of the questionnaire, patients answered specific questions produced by the researchers, aimed at assessing the impact of the disease and its treatment on their sexual lives. Results. It is noteworthy that patients with CIN 2/3 had statistically similar classification of sexual quotient to patients with GWs ( ). However, patients with GWs more frequently gave positive answers to the specific questions compared to patients with CIN 2/3. Conclusion. Based on these findings, it is clear that GWs have a greater impact on sexual behavior compared to CIN 2/3. 1. Introduction The term sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is used to refer to a variety of clinical syndromes caused by a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms that can be acquired and transmitted through sexual activity [1]. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common cause of STDs in humans worldwide. Epidemiological studies suggest that about 80% of women will have acquired genital HPV by age 50, which makes HPV infection the norm rather than the exception. Age-standardized HPV prevalence worldwide has been shown to vary, nearly 20 times between populations [2, 3]. HPV is a wide family of DNA viruses that may cause benign skin and mucosal tumors (warts) or premalignant/malignant disease in different organs. To date, over 100 different viral types have been identified, and about one-third of these infect epithelial cells in the genital tract. Nononcogenic or low-risk HPV types (mainly HPV types 6 and 11) are the cause of genital warts (GWs). Persistent oncogenic HPV infection, or high-risk HPV types, is the strongest risk factor for the development of precancers and cancers of the anogenital tract [4, 5]. Treatment for clinical sequelae such as GWs includes a wide range of interventions (ablative and cytodestructive;