We evaluated the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and correlated the molecular test results with the cytological examination data (PAP test) in 364 women living in central-southern Italy (Molise region), by means of polymerase chain reaction HPV DNA genotyping and of cervical cytology. One hundred and twenty-eight women resulted HPV positive (35.2%), HPV16 being the most frequent genotype. HPV positive women were significantly younger than negative patients (35.9 +/- 8.4 years and 38.2 +/- 9.1, respectively; p = 0.018); women with multiple infections were also significantly younger than those with single infection (31.7 +/- 6.9 and 37.6 +/- 8.3, respectively; p = 0.0002). Moreover, high risk HPV positive patients were significantly younger than low risk HPV positive women (35.1 +/- 7.7 and 40.5 +/- 10.5, respectively; p = 0.008). In the HPV positive group, 14 patients (10.9%) did not show any significant cytological alteration. Conversely, 7 out of 236 HPV negative women (3.0%) showed high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). Furthermore, HPV 16 or 18 were present in more than 70% of women positive for HSIL at cytology. Our data suggest the potential effectiveness of combined cytology and molecular test for further study of clinical cases with apparently laboratory conflicting results.