Type-Specific Incidence, Persistence and Factors Associated with Human Papillomavirus Infection among Female Sex workers in Benin and Mali, West Africa

OBJECTIVES: This study in female sex workers (FSWs) aimed (1) to estimate type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) incidence and persistence in Cotonou (Benin) and Bamako (Mali); (2) to identify the factors associated with incident and persistent type-specific high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infection. METHODS: A one-year prospective cohort study on cervical cancer screening, HPV and HIV infections was conducted among FSWs in Cotonou and Bamako, from 2017 to 2019. Poisson regression models assessed factors associated with HR-HPV incidence, while log-binomial regression was performed to identify factors associated with HR-HPV persistence. The adjusted relative risk (ARR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were estimated. RESULTS: HR-HPV incidence was 46.98 per 1000 women-months (predominant types HPV16, HPV35 and HPV59). Factors associated with incident HR-HPV were age