Background: In April 2014 we investigated the association of migration of a woman’s husband with her high-risk
human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection status and her abnormal cervical cytology status in the Achham district
of rural far-western Nepal.
Methods: Women were surveyed and screened for HR-HPV during a health camp conducted by the Nepal Fertility
Care Center. Univariate and multivariable statistical tests were performed to determine the association of a
husband’s migration status with HR-HPV infection and cervical cytology status.
Results: In 265 women, the prevalence of HR-HPV was 7.5% (20/265), while the prevalence of abnormal cervical
cytology, defined using the Bethesda system as atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance or worse,
was 7.6% (19/251). Half of the study participants (50.8%, 130/256) had husbands who had reported migrating
for work at least once. Women aged ≤34 years were significantly less likely to test positive for HR-HPV than
women aged >34 years (OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.71). HR-HPV infection and abnormal cervical cytology
status were not directly associated with a husband’s migration.
Conclusion: Older women were found to have a higher prevalence of HPV than younger women. It is possible that
a husband’s migration for work could be delaying HR-HPV infections in married women until an older age.