Changes to the prevalence of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions and risk factors among HIV/AIDS patients attended at a specialized service in southern Brazil from 1995 to 1999 and 2006 to 2007

The aim of this work was to study changes to the prevalence of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (CSIL) among HIV1-positive women following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and to evaluate changes to the prevalence of risk factors for CSIL. Fifty patients were studied in 1995-1999 and 120 patients in 2006-2007. Demographic, behavioral and laboratorial data were collected. The prevalences of CSIL and other risk factors were calculated for the two periods. The prevalence of CSIL was 66% in the first period and 43% in the second period (p = 0.007). The mean CD4 in 1995-1999 was 275.71 (SD 283.23) and in 2006-2007 it was 463.32 (SD 231.90; p=0.001). There were significant changes to the factors of age, skin color, marital status and smoking between the two periods. The decrease in the prevalence of CSIL may be related to the use of the HAART strategy and to changes to the risk factors for CSIL over time.