Author summary Why was this study done? Mental illness has been associated with a higher risk of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions as well as a lower degree of participation in cervical screening. Little is known, however, regarding disparities in HPV infection between women with and without mental illness. What did the researchers do and find? In a cohort study, we followed all 337,116 women who were at age 30 to 64, living in Stockholm, and had a negative test result of high-risk HPV during August 2014 to December 2019, to assess the link between mental illness and risk of infection with high-risk HPV. The absolute infection rate of HPV was 45% higher among women with a specialist diagnosis of mental disorder and 67% higher among women with a filled prescription of psychotropic medications, compared to women without such. What do these findings mean? Mental illness is associated with an increased infection rate of oncogenic HPV in women. Refined approaches are needed
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