Abstract: Objective To estimate the prevalence of human papillomavirus（HPV）infection and associated risk factors in men attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with male STD clinic participants who had no genital warts. A personal interview was done and material for anogenital HPV DNA detection was obtained with swabs. HPV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results The positive rate of HPV DNA among 600 subjects was 14.50%(87/600).The positive rate among STD patients (29.30%) was significantly higher than that of the subjects without STDs (11.11%, P<0.05). The most important predictors of HPV DNA positivity were younger age at first sexual intercourse (OR=1.2, 95%CI 1.1-1.3, P<0.05)and a history of condyloma acuminatum (OR=3.3, 95%CI 1.2-9.3, P<0.05) or other STDs in the past two years(OR=3.8, 95%CI 1.4-10.2, P<0.05), while other factors including age , preputial status, number of sex partners, the average frequency of sexual intercourse , condom using and sex partners' history of genital warts in the past two years had no significant relation with latent HPV infection. Conclusion Asymptomatic HPV infection in anogenitalia of men is prevalent, and this infection is more common in STD patients than in patients without STDs. The risk factors of HPV persistent infection includes younger age at first intercourse , history of genital warts or other STDs.

Key words: risk factors