A case-control study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to evaluate the effects of human papilloma virus on bone health in women

Background Globally, both human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and osteoporosis (OP) are more prevalent in women than in men. It remains unclear whether HPV has an impact on bone health. Methods This case-control study was based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Comparable datasets were created via the nearest neighbor propensity score matching (PSM) method (1:2). The Welch two-sample t test was used to analyze the association between HPV infection and bone mineral density (BMD). Restricted cubic spline (RCS) and Kendall’s tau-b tests were used to explore the effect of HPV infection type on BMD. Results BMDs in the legs and lumbar spine were lower in subjects infected with HPV than in uninfected subjects. RCS analysis showed that the larger the number of cooccurring HPV types in a woman, the lower the BMD was. In addition, four HPV types were negatively associated with leg BMD, and 14 HPV types were negatively associated with lumbar spine BMD. HPV types 53, 59, and 89 had effects on both leg and lumbar spine BMDs. Conclusions HPV infection was associated with a decrease in BMD. Appropriately designed trials can help determine whether interventions to prevent HPV infection will have a protective effect on BMD. Funding This research was not supported by any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.