Prevalence and Factors Associated with Urinary Tract Infections among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care at Hoima Regional Referral Hospital, Western Uganda

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most prevalent health issues in the world during pregnancy. UTIs affect a large proportion of women in their reproductive years, especially in underdeveloped nations. Women who are pregnant are more likely to acquire UTIs due to a number of anatomical and hormonal changes. The effects of UTIs on the mother and fetus are numerous. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with Urinary Tract Infections among pregnant women attending ANC at Hoima regional referral hospital in Hoima city, Western Uganda.This was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study with both qualitative and quantitative approach. Consecutive booked antenatal women who presented at the antenatal clinic during the study period were randomly recruited into the study upon informed consent, either with any of the symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infections or without any symptoms. Each questionnaire was examined and validated for accuracy, missing data, and unclear responses; if any were found, they were manually cleaned up. Data was entered into the computer using Microsoft excel and then exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between dependent and independent variables. Descriptive statistics was presented inform of frequency tables, pie charts, P-values and odds ratios. Majority of the study participants were aged above 30years. Specifically, 85(48.0%) were aged above 30, 61 (34.5%) were aged 20-29years and 31(17.5%) were aged below 19years. Most (83.6%) of the study participants were married and 39.0% attained secondary education. The prevalence of UTI in pregnancy was 10.7%. At multivariate analysis, level of education, income status, sexual activity, residence, parity and past history of UTI were significantly associated with UTI in pregnancy. The prevalence of UTI among pregnant women is high. Socio-demographic factors influence occurrence of UTI among pregnant women. The factors that influence occurrence of UTI among pregnant women are; level of education, income status, sexual activity, residence, parity and past history of UTI. Keywords: Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs); Pregnancy; Prevalence; Socio-demographic Factors; Antenatal Care