Prevalence of bacterial vaginosis: Assessment of sociodemographic characteristics among the reproductive age women ; Indian Journal of Applied & Pure Biology

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is caused by the shift in the vaginal flora from hydrogen peroxide-producing lactobacilli to other bacteria. Nugents score and Amsel criteria are used as the standard methods to diagnose bacterial vaginosis. In present study prevalence of BV is calculated and also the association between various sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the participants with the presence and absence of BV are studied using the Chi-square test. The clinical characteristics were analyzed for 150 study participants, which revealed that there is no significant association of clue cells with BV With an odds ratio of 0.7563 (CI: 0.382,1.499) and the P value of 0.4228. while Whiffs test and pH significant results with an odds ratio of 0.229 (CI: 0.009,0.061) and 0.2971 (CI: 0.130,0.681) respectively with P values less than 0.05 Among the clinical characteristics to identify the BV, Whiffs test and pH were found to be the most effective methods. Using these diagnosis methods for all the women of reproductive age attending the outpatient department of obstetrics and gynecology would help to identify the asymptomatic BV individuals in the early stage and would help to maintain the health of women and overcome the adverse health effects. ; Published version