Description of socioeconomic and demographic profile of young women vulnerable to infection by human papillomavirus and risk behavior in a school in Rio de Janeiro

Background: HPV is one of the main sexually transmitted diseases, especially among the female population. This is an important etiologic agent for the development of cervical intraepithelial lesions and cervical cancer. It is considered a public health problem, since young women are the most vulnerable group to this virus. Therefore, it is important that the socioeconomic and demographic profile of these women and their risk behaviors are known, so that it is possible to contribute in reducing infection occurrences in the studied population. Objectives: To describe the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and investigate the behavioral sexual-affective aspects of risk of adolescents and young students from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil when tackling HPV infection. Methods: A group composed by 128 individuals susceptible to HPV—classified as adolescent women and young women who are students at a high school in one unity of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. The studied period was from May to November. A quantitative descriptive approach was used, in which data were highlighted in variables, divided into economic, demographic and behavioral characteristics. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and organized by descriptive statistics performed by simple frequency (%). Results: The age range of the young women who have the possibility of being infected with HPV was from 15 to 25. The focused family income among these young women was up to 2 minimum wages. The risk behavior detected in 37.5% of adolescent women and in 43.8% of young women is that these women never used condoms in sexual intercourse. Conclusion: The research showed that the studied women are vulnerable due to risk behavior practices that may lead to the virus acquisition. More focuses on educational actions of preventive measures regarding HPV infection should be emphasized, favoring a lower incidence of human papillomavirus infection and cervical cancer.