Chlamydia trachomatis seropositivity among women with tubal factor infertility and fertile controls: a comparative study

Abstract

Introduction: Chlamydia trachomatis is the most reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection and if not properly treated may lead to tubal blockage. Tubal factor infertility is the most common form of infertility in Nigeria. This study was designed to determine the usefulness of chlamydia antibody testing in diagnosis of tubal factor infertility.

Methods: this was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted in Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital Sagamu. One hundred and forty-seven women with tubal blockage on hysterosalpingography and confirmed with laparoscopy, and pregnant control were recruited using convenience sampling method. Information obtained and chlamydia assay results were entered into a computer and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Chi-square was used to determine association between categorical variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors associated with chlamydia infection.

Results: ninety-four (63.9%) of the women with tubal factor infertility were positive for chlamydia IgG antibodies while 37(25.2%) women in the control group had positive result for IgG antibody. This was statistically significant (P=0.001). Analysis using multivariate logistic regression shows early age of coitarche, presence of multiple sexual partners and previous sexually transmitted infection were significantly associated with chlamydia infection (P=0.001).

Conclusion: there was a strong association between chlamydia seropositivity and tubal blockage. Early age at coitarche, previous sexually transmitted infection and multiple sexual partners are significant risk factors for chlamydial infection. Chlamydia trachomatis antibody testing could be used as marker for tubal blockage when evaluating infertile patient.