STUDY DESIGN: From 500 women who participated in a 1991 population-based survey, 90 healthy women with normal results of cytologic examination (women with human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid detected and age-matched control women without human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid detected) were interviewed and examined 5 years later colposcopically, cytologically, and with human papillomavirus serologic testing and human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing by polymerase chain reaction with 2 different consensus primer pairs (MY09 and MY11 and GP5(+) and GP6(+)), type-specific polymerase chain reaction, and deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing.

RESULTS: The 5-year human papillomavirus clearance rate was 92%. Only human papillomavirus type 16 infections persisted. Colposcopic impression of grade 2 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was associated with persistent human papillomavirus 16 infection (P<.03). Human papillomavirus detection was associated with sexual history. Human papillomavirus type was the only determinant of human papillomavirus persistence.

CONCLUSION: The high clearance rates in a population-based setting with a 5-year follow-up period imply that inclusion of human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing in population-based cervical screening programs should target persistent infection.