Literature Review
Obesity is associated with a higher risk of cancer death, specifically deaths caused by cervical cancer. According to Wee, Phillips, & McCarthy (2005), there are about 4000 deaths every year that are caused by cervical cancer leads despite the availability of outstanding screening tests that are available in the market to detect the disease. The article of Wee, et al., (2005) is important for the study since it will explain the fact that despite early stage detection screenings that were conducted, there is no guarantee that the preventive treatment will improve the survival of patients with cervical cancer (Wee, et al., 2005, p.1275).
The main objective or purpose of this study is to determine whether obesity is unconventionally associated with the detection of HPV. It is important to understanding the origins of the increased detection of HPV in middle-aged adult women to find out if the new sexual exposures are necessary to develop the future prevention programs for cervical cancer (Liu, Rositch, Viscidi, Silver & Burke, 2013, p.1079).
The article of Liu, et al. (2013) will help in answering the research question by providing a recent study based on reliable evidence suggesting that obesity may be involved in the pathogenesis a number of infections that may be attributable to the link between HPV and obesity. There were pieces of evidence that indicated that the same is common among middle-aged adult women, who are considered as the at-risk population to acquire cervical cancer. In fact, they are identified as the best subjects in order to detect any HPV infection (Liu et al., 2013).
The study conducted of Harper, Else, Bartley (2014) will discuss certain issues that were identified with regard to the preventive effect of HPV4 vaccination among obese women. This article will discuss the possible connection of HPV and obesity among women. In fact, many of the adolescent and young female population in the U.S. are classified as obese. As a result, several of these women are at risk of having cervical cancer. It is imperative that these patients must seek care in safety net health care systems to attend to their needs. The fact that the most at risk obese women in the safety net health care system in the U.S. failed to acquire full vaccination status is alarming. It is important promote awareness of the fact that a single dose is not enough to provide any protection from genital warts or cervical HPV infection (Harper, et al., 2014, p.6). In addition, the immune response among the obese to other vaccinations including HPV4 remains to be a major public health issue that has to be resolved.
The article of Harper will be useful for the study since it explains the rate of complete loss of antibody detection within five (5) years that is expected to be worse for obese women who are vaccine-compliant. In fact, many research studies have identified that the failure of antibody and long term memory response of vaccinations among obese adolescent and adult, there is a possibility that they may not be protected as expected (Harper, et al., 2014, p.6).
The article of Wee, et al. (2005, p.1280) is helpful in answering the research question of whether or not obesity and HPV are connected by determining the disparities in cervical cancer screening by body weight by comparing white women and African-American women. The results revealed that the women who suffered from severe obesity did not show much difference from the African-American subjects. The discrepancies in the HPV screening were not explained by disparities that were prevalent based on the recommendations of the doctors to undergo screening. The only material discovery that can be used for the study is the fact that the obese white women are more likely to avoid Pap testing due to embarrassment and discomfort of the procedure, in comparison to those white women with normal weight.
Therefore, the article did not provide sufficient evidence that will show a strong connection between obesity and HPV. The authors emphasized only on the need to encourage these obese women to undergo screening by finding ways to address women’s reservations about undergoing screening (Wee, et al., 2005, p.1280). In fact, many experts claim that nearly all cervical cancer deaths may be prevented if the women and their healthcare providers have strictly followed the screening recommendations and follow-up treatment advised by the doctors (Nelson, Moser, Gaffy and Waldron, 2009).
Theoretical Framework
The design and methodology of this research will use the social epidemiological approach. The social epidemiology refers to the systematic and comprehensive study of health and well-being in relation to the context of social and environmental factors (Hayashi 418). By using this approach, the researcher will be able to identify, define, and make an assessment of the relationship between various aspects of the social environment and the health of the members of the community. The main objective of goal of social epidemiology is to integrate the concepts of social science approaches in order to be able to achieve the full understanding of diseases that are closely related to some of the social issues present in a community. The social epidemiology refers to the study of disease distribution and factors that are present in human populations by application of methods that will make use of social and behavioral sciences (Hayashi 418).
In the study conducted by Liu, et al. (2013), they sought to discover whether there is a close association between obesity and HPV DNA detection on the basis of a recent six (6) months exposure to HPV infection or lifetime sexual exposure to such infection. The subjects used for the study of HPV DNA are those peri-menopausal women who were admitted in the Natural History of HPV in Peri-menopause Study that was conducted by the group of Liu. During their investigation, the group discovered that there is no evidence that will suggest that obesity played a role of in HPV gain or loss based on their analysis (Liu, et al., 2013).
This was affirmed by the study of Wee, et al. (2014, p.1275) that the pervasiveness of HPV did not vary by Body Mass Index or BMI. In fact, the results showed that women with a higher BMI did not possess sexual behavioral risk factors which can cause them to acquire HPV infection or develop the disease of cervical cancer. This conclusion was made after comparing the women with normal weight and those women having greater BMI. It was shown that women with increased BMI did not show any signs of STD contamination even if they had two or more sexual partners in the past year and those having multiple partners in the same year. The same result was obtained for heavy women who had sexual intercourse without condoms in the past month.
The result was obtained after the adjustment of the socio-demographic factors involving women who had normal weight and those women who weighed more, who both did not show any genital herpes infection (Wee, et al., 2014, p.1275). In fact, it there was a showing that women who are obese are more reluctant to undergo pelvic exams.
Hence, the grounds for the drop in the rates of cervical cancer screening for the women who suffer from obesity remain to be doubtful. In fact, many doctors are had lesser chances of conducting pelvic exam to their reluctant patients. In the previous study that by conducted by the group of Harper, et al. (2014) revealed that obesity is related to decreased cervical cancer screening, such as in the case of African-American women subject and white females, who both had the same rates of screening irrespective of their actual weight (Wee, et al., 2005).
References:
Harper, D. M., Else, B. M., Bartley, M. J., Arey, A. M., Barnett, A. L., Rosemergey, B. E., &
Bonham, A. J. (2014). In a Safety Net Population HPV4 Vaccine Adherence Worsens as
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Hayashi, Mampei. "A Quick Method For Assessing Economic Damage Caused By Natural
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Irimie, S., Vlad, M., Mirestean, I. M., Balacescu, O., Rus, M., Balacescu, L., & Irimie, A.
(2011). Risk Factors in a Sample of Patients with Advanced Cervical Cancer. Applied Medical Informatics, 29(4), 1-10.
Liu, S.H., Rositch, A.F., Viscidi, R.P., Silver, M.I., Burke, A.E. & Gravitt, P.E. (2013).Obesity
and Human Papillomavirus Infection in Perimenopausal Women. Journal of Infectious
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Nelson, W., Moser, R. P., Gaffey, A., & Waldron, W. (2009). Adherence to cervical cancer
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Wee, C. C., Phillips, R.S. & McCarthy, E.P. (2005). BMI and Cervical Cancer Screening among
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