Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Pelvic organ prolapse is the down ward descent of female organs including the bladder, small and large bowel resulting in protrusion of the vagina, uterus or both. It is a disorder exclusive to women and one of the most common indications for gynecologic surgery. METHODS: This hospital based retrospective descriptive study was conducted to assess the magnitude of pelvic organ prolapse and risk factors for it. All cases of pelvic organ prolapse admitted and treated in Jimma University Specialized Hospital from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011 were included. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS computer software version 16.0. Chi-square test was used and was considered to be significant when p<0.05. RESULTS: Pelvic organ prolapse accounted for 40.7% of major gynecologic operations. Mean age of patients was 42.43 ± 10.4 years and there was a significant association between prolapse and age of patients (p <0.05). Mean parity of patients was 6.5± 2.64 with a significant association between prolapse and parity (p < 0.05). Majority of them (80.6%) lived in rural area and there was a significant association between prolapse and residence area. Farmers accounted for 68.2% of the patients and there was a significant association between prolapse and occupation (p < 0.05). Risk factors identified were chronic cough (20.9%), constipation (30.2%) with some having more than one risk factor while none was identified in 59.7%. CONCLUSION: Prolapse is common among rural, farmer, parous and older women where most of them delivered at home with prolonged labor. Age, parity and occupation were associated with the stage of prolapse. Awareness creation on risk factors of pelvic organ prolapse and use of contraception to reduce parity is recommended. Health institution delivery should be advocated to minimize the rate of home deliveries and hence of prolonged labor.