The genital hygiene habits and sexual behaviors associated withurinary tract infection in pregnant women

Background and Aim : Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a bacterial infection commonly occurringduring pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to determine the association of UTI with genitalhygiene habits and sexual behaviors in pregnant women attending prenatal clinics in BabolMethods : This case–control study was performed on ۱۰۰ women with positive urine culture(cases) and ۱۵۰ healthy pregnant women (controls), matched for age, gestational age, parity,occupation and socioeconomic and education status. The women were selected consecutively fromthose attending ۵ Comprehensive health centers at Babol University of Medical Sciences forprenatal care. The exclusion criteria were a history of > ۲ episodes of UTI per year, urinary stonesor urinary tract anomaly, chronic disease, consumption of any antibiotic or immune systeminhibitory drugs in the previous ۳ months, or the presence of any abnormal vaginal discharge. Theclean-catch midstream urine specimen were sent to Babol Razi laboratory and the fresh urine wastested immediately. Urinalyses and urine cultures were used for the detection of UTI. A UTI wasdefined as the presence of significant bacteriuria > ۱۰۰ ۰۰۰ colony-forming units per mL of urine.A risk profile for UTI was expressed in the form of odd ratios (OR) with ۹۵% confidence intervals(CI) for the ۲۵۰ women.Results : Escherichia coli was the infecting organism in ۸۳% of cases. Other causative organismswere S. saprophyticus (۱۰%), Enterococci spp. (۴%) and P. mirabilis (۳%). Factors associated withUTI included sexual intercourse ≥ ۳ times per week (OR = ۵.۶۲), recent UTI (OR = ۳.۲۷), notwashing genitals pre-coitus (OR = ۲.۱۶), not washing genitals post-coitus (OR = ۲.۸۹), not voidingurine post- coitus (OR = ۸.۶۲) and washing genitals from back to front (OR = ۲.۹۶).Conclusion : Due to the fact that the most common cause of UTI in our female sample was causedby fecal bacteria (E. coli), so hygiene habits and sexual behaviors may play an important role inthe occurrence of UTI in pregnant women.

کلیدواژه ها:

urinary tract infection ، genital hygiene habits ، sexual behaviors ، pregnancy