Macroscopic and Microscopic Findings in The Cervical Vaginal Mucosa of University Students

Abstract

Introduction: Cervical cancer is preventable and curable, however, it is a serious threat to women's lives.
Objective: To identify the macroscopic and microscopic findings of the cervical-vaginal mucosa in university students.
Methods: A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study was carried out from May to December 2019. The sample consisted of 103 first-year students of the Medicine Faculty at Cienfuegos Medical Sciences University. The data was processed with the statistical package of SSPS v. 19.0 and presented in tables with absolute numbers and percentages.
Results: The most frequent macroscopic findings were leucorrhea, cervical ectopy and cervicitis. Among the microscopic findings of the cervical mucosa, human papillomavirus infection and grade I cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were identified. The relationship between bacterial vaginosis and the macroscopic findings of cervical ectopia and cervicitis was established. All the young women
studied, who showed histological changes in the cervical smear with low-grade lesions, had positive vaginal exudates.
Conclusions: It is evident that the sooner sexual activity begins, the greater the risk of developing conditions such as cervicitis, high inflammatory gynecological diseases and the greater the incidence of sexually transmitted infections. It was observed that the human papilloma virus was more frequent among younger women and those with greater sexual activity. Likewise, the associated risk of multiple sexual partners with sexually transmitted diseases is demonstrated. The total of the young women studied, who presented histological changes in the cervical smear with low-grade lesions, had positive vaginal exudates.