Impact of genital hygiene and sexual activity on urinary tract infection during pregnancy

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a bacterial infection commonly occurring during pregnancy. The incidence of UTI in pregnant women depends on parity, race, and socioeconomic status and can be as high as 8%.

The objective was to determine the association of UTI with genital hygiene practices and sexual activity in pregnant women.

From January 2011 to June 2014, a total of 200 pregnant women attending prenatal clinics in Al-Zahra Hospital and King Khalid Hospital in Saudia Arabia Kingdom were selected. Eighty pregnant women, who had positive urine cultures (cases), were compared with the remaining 120 healthy pregnant women matched for age, social, economic and education status, and parity (controls).

In the present work, Escherichia coli were the infecting organism in 83% of cases. Factors associated with UTI included sexual intercourse ≥ 3 times/week (odds ratio [OR] =5.62), recent UTI (OR = 3.27), not washing genitals precoitus (OR = 2.16), not washing genitals postcoitus (OR = 2.89), not voiding urine postcoitus (OR = 8.62) and washing genitals from back to front (OR = 2.96) [OR = odds ratio].

Urinary tract infection in pregnant women was primarily caused by bacteria from the stool (E. coli) and that hygiene habits, and sexual behavior may play a role in UTI in pregnant women.