Low folate status as a risk factor for cervical dysplasia in Thai women

The relationship between folate status and the risk of cervical dysplasia was studied among Thai women. The subjects were composed of 44 women with low-grade cervical neoplasia (cervical intraepithelial neoplasm I), 70 women with high-grade cervical neoplasia (cervical intraepithelial neoplasm II, III, and carcinoma in situ), and 95 women who served as controls. The low folate status in these women showed a strong association with cervical dysplasia. Serum folate was markedly lower in both low-grade (P < .01) and high-grade cervical neoplasia cases (P < .01) compared with the control women. Using logistic regression, the odds ratio for low-grade cervical neoplasia with low serum folate level (<19.82 nmol/L) was 6.13, whereas that of the high-grade group with the same folate level was 5.57. The findings support the contention that folate deficiency of women in this study had an increased risk of cervical change.