Burden of reproductive tract infections among married women of South Punjab.

Abstract

Objective: To identify the frequency, etiology and risk factors of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in married women who visit gynecology outpatient department at Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, South Punjab. Study Design: Analytical Cross-sectional. Setting: Bahawal Victoria Hospital/Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur. Period: June 2025 to December 2025. Methods: This study involved 428 married women aged 18-49. The participants were examined clinically, diagnosed by syndromic diagnosis by the WHO criteria, and laboratory tests were carried out, including wet mount microscopy, Gram staining, culture sensitivity, and rapid plasma reagin test. All the data analysis was done in SPSS version 26.0; chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were used with the significance level of 0.05. Results: The prevalence of overall RTI was 38.6 (95% CI: 34.0-43.3). There were endogenous infections (24.3%), then sexually transmitted infections (8.9%), and finally iatrogenic infections (5.4%). The most prevalent one was bacterial vaginosis (15.7%), then comes vulvovaginal candidiasis (11.2%), trichomoniasis (6.8%), and cervicitis (5.1%). This was significant in low education (AOR=2.84, 95% CI: 1.76-4.58, p<0.001), household size >7 members (AOR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.32-3.37, p=0.002), husband being migrationed to work (AOR=1.97, 95% CI: 1.24-3.13, p=0.004), use of intrauterine. Conclusion: RTIs are a significant burden of the population health among the married women of South Punjab. There is need to integrate RTI screening in normal maternal health services and community based health education.