Jalwa Javed Farooqi, Farhat Rehana Malik Malik, Fatima Noor, Kanza Javed Farooqi.
Prevalence and risk factors association with hepatitis B and C infected pregnant ladies visiting tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar: an unmatched pilot case-control study.
J Postgrad Med Inst Jan ;37(2):91-6.

Objective: To determine the prevalence, risk factors, and their association with Hepatitis B and C infection among pregnant females visiting Tertiary Care Hospitals of Peshawar. Methods: A pilot case-control study was conducted in the Gynecology & Obstetrics units of Tertiary Care Hospitals of Peshawar after being approved by the institutional IRB Committee. A consecutive sampling technique was used to enroll 21 pregnant females in a ratio of 1: 1 among both groups. The included cases were HBsAg positive with ELIZA positive HCV while the negative ones were in the control group. A validated research tool from previous stud­ies was used. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS Version- 19. Descriptive and inferential statistics like frequency, percentages, 95% confidence interval, chi-square and odds ratio were applied with cut-off p-value limit set at 0.05. Results: The mean age for cases and controls was 37±9 and 28±6 years. The seroprevalence of HBV was 28.9% and HCV as 61.9%. Abortion history OR=1.23 (95% Cl=0.34-4.35), hospitalization OR=2.90 (Cl=0.77-10.8), past surgical procedure OR=3.69 (Cl=0.81-16.6), dental extraction OR=1.25 (Cl=0.33-4.63), delivery in hospi­tal OR=4.26 (Cl=1.13-16.05), injection in hospitals OR=1.47 (Cl=0.43-5.04), household contact with jaundice OR=5.66 (Cl=1.41-22.7) were the significant risk factors. Normal vaginal delivery OR=1.96 (Cl=0.51-7.48) and history of sexually transmitted infections OR=2.23 (Cl=0.36-13.7) were independently associated with HBV, and HCV. Conclusion: Hepatitis C prevalence rate was more with blood transfusions, unsafe injections, tooth extractions, home deliveries with past history of sexually transmitted infections, abortion, hepatitis infection, and hospital ad­missions as the significant risk factors among pregnant women.

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