Incidence of Antenatal Trichomoniasis and Evaluation of Its Role as a Cause of Preterm Birth in Pregnant Women Referring to Minia University Hospital, Egypt

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine the incidence of trichomoniasis and its risk factors in Egyptian pregnant women attending the Minia Maternity and Pediatric University Hospital, Minia, Egypt and evaluate its association with preterm birth. METHODS: The study was carried out from Aug 2014 to Jun 2015 through 2 phases, the first phase was case-control study, and the second phase was follow-up with intervention. Overall, 300 pregnant women with gestational age of 20–36 weeks with no medical risk factors of preterm labour birth were enrolled. Vaginal swabs were examined by the wet mount microscopy and culture while urine samples were examined by urine analysis. Demographic information was collected. Pregnant women were divided into two groups, study group (with trichomoniasis) and control group (without trichomoniasis). Positive cases were subjected to metronidazole treatment. RESULTS: Thirty-five cases were positive for T. vaginalis infection. Maximum cases were detected by culture (11.7%) followed by wet mount microscopy (9.7%) whereas least number of cases (7.3%) was detected by urine examination. Nineteen (54.28%) cases had preterm delivery. Post-delivery adverse outcomes were observed in 29 cases (82.8%). The high rate of infection was observed in age group of 20–30 years (P<0.05). In addition, there was a significant T. vaginalis infection in pregnant women living in rural area, of low socioeconomic and primary educational levels (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Pregnant women lived in rural area with a low socioeconomic and primary educational levels should be screened for trichomoniasis to reduce the incidence of preterm delivery and low birth weight.