Premium
Is there a correlation between vaginal chlamydia infection and cervical smear abnormalities? A community‐based study in the Al‐Ain district, United Arab Emirates
Author(s) -
GhazalAswad Saad,
Badrinath Padmanabhan,
Osman Nawal Ahmed,
AbdulKhalik Samar,
Raasclou Tove
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/j.1447-0756.2006.00352.x
Subject(s) - chlamydia , medicine , gynecology , obstetrics , papanicolaou stain , chlamydia trachomatis , cross sectional study , confidence interval , statistical significance , cervical cancer , immunology , pathology , cancer
Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between vaginal chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities. The data on the prevalence of chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities have been presented elsewhere and in this article we provide the results of a correlation analysis. Methods: In this cross‐sectional, community‐based survey, women attending primary and secondary care in the Al‐Ain medical district, United Arab Emirates, were offered cervical screening using the Papanicolaou smear, and chlamydia testing. A total of 793 women underwent cervical screening and 728 were tested for chlamydia. A commercially available kit was used to determine the prevalence of chlamydia. The correlation between cervical abnormalities and chlamydia infection was tested using the chi‐squared test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate. Results: The prevalence of abnormal smears was 1.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66–2.4). Twelve subjects had abnormal smears, including smears showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. The prevalence of chlamydia infection in this population was 2.5% (95% CI, 1.2–3.3). Statistical analysis showed no association (χ 2 0.6, P = 0.4) between the prevalence of chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities. Conclusion: Although there have been earlier reports of an association between vaginal chlamydia and cervical abnormalities, our study does not provide evidence to support this association.