Impact of Sexual Hygiene Behaviors on Urinary Tract Infection in Pregnant Women

Urinary tract infection is still one of the most common diseases that affect pregnant women. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of sexual hygiene behaviors on urinary tract infection in pregnant women.

A case-control study was conducted on 100 pregnant women with urinary tract infection (case group) and 150 pregnant women without urinary tract infection (control group) in health centers of Ardabil city in 2020. Purposive sampling was done in 6-10 weeks of pregnancy. The information was collected through a researcher-made questionnaire. SPSS 21 software was used for statistical analysis of data. The odds ratio (OR) of infection in both groups was estimated by logistic regression.

Sexual health behaviors in the majority of women of the case group (47%) were average (with score of 50.1-66), but in the majority of the control group (49.33%) were good (with score of 66.1-84) (p<0.001). Sexual intercourse 3 or more times in a week in the last 30 days was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group (p=0.001). Spouse bathing before sexual intercourse was less in women in the case group than the control group (p=0.022). Statistically significant differences were observed in Pre-coital voiding (p=0.04), Post coital voiding (p=0.02) and post-coital bathing (p=0.03) in the two groups.

Sexual hygiene behaviors play an important role in preventing or contracting urinary tract infections. Therefore, training and improving hygiene behaviors in women and their spouses is an effective step in reducing urinary tract infections.