Genitourinary tract infections in pregnancy and low birth weight: case-control study in Australian aboriginal women

• Published in: BMJ 1991-11, Vol.303 (6814), p.1369-1373
• Main Authors: Schultz, R, Read, A W, Straton, J A, Stanley, F J, Morich, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Birth weight; Case-Control Studies; Female; Female Urogenital Diseases - complications; Female Urogenital Diseases - ethnology; Genitalia; Humans; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Infections; Low birth weight; Obstetrics; Odds Ratio; Parity; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - ethnology; Prevalence; Random Allocation; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Spontaneous abortion; Threatened abortion; Urinary tract infections; Urinary Tract Infections - complications; Urinary Tract Infections - ethnology; Western Australia
• ISSN: 0959-8138; 1468-5833; 1756-1833
• DOI: 10.1136/bmj.303.6814.1369

OBJECTIVE--To investigate the association between genital and urinary tract infections in pregnant Aboriginal women and low birth weight. DESIGN--Retrospective case-control study controlling for potential confounding variables. SETTING--Western Australia from 1985 to 1987. SUBJECTS--All Aboriginal women (n = 269) who had given birth to singleton infants weighing 2250 g or less (cases), and 269 randomly selected Aboriginal women who had given birth to singleton infants weighing 3000 g or more (controls). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Proportions of women in case and control groups who had had genital and urinary tract infections; odds ratios for low birth weight when genitourinary tract infection was present; population attributable fraction of low birth weight to genitourinary tract infection. RESULTS--At the time of delivery 51% of women in the case group (109/215) had genitourinary tract infections compared with 13% of controls (35/266). After controlling for potential confounding variables the odds ratio for giving birth to infants weighing 2250 g or less when genitourinary tract infection was present was 4.0 (95% confidence interval 2.3 to 7.0). The proportion of infants with low birth weight attributable to genitourinary tract infection in the whole population of Aboriginal women was 32% (95% confidence interval 17% to 49%). CONCLUSIONS--There was a strong association between low birth weight and the presence of genitourinary tract infections in Aboriginal women both during pregnancy and at the time of delivery. A community intervention trial of screening and treatment of genitourinary infections in this population is recommended.