Evaluation of Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis in Pregnant Patients in our Population

Abstract

Objective

The study aims to the determination of prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnancy since it is a common reason for vaginal discharge in women.

Methodology

The study was conducted in the Gynecology and Obstetrics department of Liaquat University of medical and health Sciences Jamshoro / Hyderabad, Pakistan from June 2020 to June 2021. A total of 220 pregnant women with the complaint of vaginal discharge were included in the study. After history and examination, a vaginal swab of all the participants was taken. The swabs were tested for pH, fishy odor, wet preparation microscopy, and gram staining for the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis. The data was carefully recorded and analyzed in IBM SPSS version 26. The comparison was done by Chi-square.

Result

37 (16.81%) pregnant women were positive for BV out of 220 total sample sizes. The age of the patients ranged from 24-35 years. Higher education and multiparity had significant association with BV (p-value = <0.05). The symptoms of BV such as dyspareunia, vaginal discharge characteristics, vulvar itching, and pain in the lower abdomen also had a significant association with BV (p-value = <0.05). The pregnant females with BV had early rupture of membrane and gave birth to premature babies of low birth weight and less than 5 APGAR score (p-value = <0.05). The rate of admission of the babies in special care was also statistically static (p-value = <0.05).

Conclusion

All pregnant women with abnormal vaginal discharge should be screened for BV so that timely diagnosis and treatment can prevent complications.