Colposcopic and histopathologic evaluation of women participating in population-based screening for human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid persistence.

Objective: Evaluation of colposcopic and histopathological findings in women screened for cervical human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid persistence.

Study Design: A total of 12 527 women, aged 32 to 38 years old, attending the population-based cervical cancer screening program in Sweden were randomized 1:1 to mock testing or human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing by general primer 5+/6+ polymerase chain reaction and subsequent typing. Human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid-positive women with a normal Papanicolaou smear (n=341) and an equal number from the control group were human papillomavirus tested on average 19 months later.