Prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection among women aged over 45 years in Xinjiang, China

eusoft-did-translate-comment-enThis study aimed to estimate the age- and genotype-specific prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) among women aged over 45 years in Xinjiang, China. A total of 18,445 women undergoing either organized ( eusoft-did-translate-comment-enn eusoft-did-translate-comment-en = 6,539) or opportunistic ( eusoft-did-translate-comment-enn eusoft-did-translate-comment-en = 11,906) cervical HPV screening between 2023 and 2025 were included. The overall HPV prevalence was 24.96%. HPV 16 (7.77%) was the most prevalent genotype, followed by HPV 52, 42, 53, and 58. The prevalence was 14.77% in the organized screening group, with the most common genotypes being 16, 42, 53, 51, and 52, and 30.55% in the opportunistic screening group, with the top genotypes being 16, 52, 42, 58, and 53. High-risk HPV prevalence showed an increasing age-related pattern ( eusoft-did-translate-comment-enp trend eusoft-did-translate-comment-en <0.001), rising from 16.66% in women aged 45–49 years to a peak of 33.33% in those aged 65–69 years, with HPV 16 remaining the dominant genotype across all age groups, although this finding should be interpreted cautiously because of differences between screening populations and potential residual confounding. Notably, the proportion of infections covered by the nonavalent HPV vaccine increased from 56.20% in the 45–49 years age group to 80.99% in women aged over 75 years. In conclusion, HPV 16, 52, 42, 53, and 58 are the most common genotypes among women over 45 in Xinjiang. HPV prevalence appeared higher in older age groups, particularly after 65 years; however, this observation should be interpreted with caution due to potential confounding factors. These findings highlight the potential importance of HPV screening in this population.