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ownloade kground: Estimates of human papillomavirus (HPV) concordance among sexual partners are imporr various public health activities, from counseling individual patients to predicting the effect of HPV ation. thods:We systematically searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies of HPV concordance heterosexual couples published through 2008 in English. Two coders independently abstracted data standardized forms. We integrated concordance data using random-effects meta-analysis. ults: Thirty studies (33 study populations) that met inclusion criteria reported concordance data for couples. Most studies were cross-sectional cohort studies conducted in Europe or Asia that used hybridization to test for HPV, sometimes in conjunction with PCR. Overall, 25.5% (95% confidence in17.2-36.1%) of couples were infected with 1 or more of the same HPV types. Among couples with both ers HPV-positive, 63.2% (95% confidence interval, 49.1-75.3%) were infected with 1 or more of the same ypes. Positive concordance was higher for female partners of men with HPV infections than for male rs of women with HPV infections. Positive concordance was also higher for studies using PCR and for studies that recruited men with HPV-related disease. clusions: Sexual partners of HPV-infected individuals had high rates of HPV infection, suggesting a or increased attention to this group. act: Our refined estimates of HPV concordance can inform clinical encounters and public health ng. Future HPV concordance studies should use more rigorous research designs, characterize their planni participants in greater detail, and study more meaningful populations. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(11); 2916–31. ©2010 AACR.