Nativity Differences in Behaviors Associated with High-Risk HPV Infection Among Hispanic Women in Houston, Texas, USA

While Hispanics in the U.S. are a population with significant within-group heterogeneity, epidemiologic studies often aggregate Hispanics into one homogenous group without considering differences by nativity. The objective of this study is to evaluate nativity differences in the risk behavior profile associated with prevalent high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) among U.S.- and foreign-born Hispanic women. Using a clinical trial dataset, we compare risk behavior and HR-HPV infection patterns among U.S.- and foreign-born participants and assess factors associated with infection in each group. While the prevalence of HR-HPV infection was similar among U.S.- and foreign-born participants, U.S.-born cases had a higher HR-HPV risk profile. The similar prevalence of HR-HPV despite foreign-born women’s lower risk profile suggests a role for unmeasured risk factors among foreign-born Hispanics. More importantly, nativity differences in behavioral risk factors associated with HR-HPV suggest the need to further research cervical cancer risk factors among disaggregated Hispanic subgroups.