Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Pregnancy at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria is relatively higher in under developed and developing countries and is influenced by risk factors such as contraceptive use, prior urinary tract infections and comorbidities. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women and assess its association with various risk factors. Methods: This is a hospital-based, cross-sectional study conducted on pregnant women.Pregnant women without symptoms of urinary tract infection were included. Convenient sampling technique was used. Data was collected through a pre-designed interviewer and observation-based questionnaire. R Programming and Microsoft Excel were used to carry out the analysis. Results: The prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria was 10 (2.56%). Escherichia coli was isolated in 5 (1.28%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae in 3 (0.77%) samples. Nitrofurantoin was sensitive among 10 (100%) isolates. Sexual frequency of three or more times per week was seen in 7 (9.59%) cases of asymptomatic bacteriuria. No significant associations were found for contraceptive use, history of urinary tract infection, urine pH, hemoglobin level, or daily water intake. Conclusions: Asymptomatic bacteriuria was uncommon (10 positive cultures). Due to the small number of events, logistic regression estimates are unstable and confidence intervals are very wide; therefore, associations such as with daily sexual activity frequency should be interpreted as exploratory only and require confirmation in larger studies. Large studies are needed to confirm these findings and further explore risk factors.