Impact of catch-up human papillomavirus vaccination on cervical conization rate in a real-life population in France

Objective To evaluate the impact of catch-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on conization rates in France in a large population-based study. Methods We conducted a retrospective real-life cohort study on data collected prospectively by French National Health Insurance. Echantillon generalistes des beneficiaires (EGB) is a database composed of demographic and health care utilization data for a 1/97th sample of the French population. We extracted data about all women born between 1983 and 1991, corresponding to the catch-up population (vaccination after 14 years old) at the time of implementation of HPV vaccination. The primary outcome was the occurrence of conization (all types of procedures) compared between vaccinated and non-vaccinated women. Results The cohort consisted of 42,452 women. Vaccination coverage (at least one dose) was low (9.8%, n = 4,129), but increased with time from vaccine implementation, from 0% in the 1983 cohort to 31% in the 1991 cohort. The conization rate was 1% for the overall population. The risk of conization for women between the ages of 19 and 30 years was reduced in the vaccinated group with a Hazard Ratio (HR) of 0.59 (95% CI[0.39-0.90]; p = 0.043). Conclusions With a 10-year follow-up, catch-up HPV vaccination is associated with risk reduction of conization between the ages of 19 and 30.