• Home
  1. Home
  2. Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence in undocumented migrants undergoing voluntary termination of pregnancy: a prospective cohort study
Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence in undocumented migrants undergoing voluntary termination of pregnancy: a prospective cohort study

Contributors

Wolff, Hans; Lourenco, Ana Paula; Bodenmann, Patrick; Epiney, Manuela; Uny, Monique; Andreoli, Nicole; Irion, Olivier; Gaspoz, Jean-Michel; Dubuisson, Jean-Bernard

Published in

BMC public health, vol. 8, 391

Publication date

2008

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chlamydia trachomatis infection (CTI) is the most frequent sexual transmitted disease (STI) in Switzerland but its prevalence in undocumented migrants is unknown. We aimed to compare CTI prevalence among undocumented migrants undergoing termination of pregnancy (ToP) to the prevalence among women with residency permit. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included all pregnant, undocumented women presenting from March 2005 to October 2006 to the University hospital for ToP. The control group consisted of a systematic sample of pregnant women with legal residency permit coming to the same hospital during the same time period for ToP. RESULTS: One hundred seventy five undocumented women and 208 women with residency permit (controls) were included in the study. Mean ages were 28.0 y (SD 5.5) and 28.2 y (SD 7.5), respectively (p = 0.77). Undocumented women came primarily from Latin-America (78%). Frequently, they lacked contraception (23%, controls 15%, OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.04;2.9). Thirteen percent of undocumented migrants were found to have CTI (compared to 4.4% of controls; OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4;7.3). CONCLUSION: This population of undocumented, pregnant migrants consisted primarily of young, Latino-American women. Compared to control women, undocumented migrants showed higher prevalence rates of genital CTI, which indicates that health professionals should consider systematic screening for STI in this population. There is a need to design programs providing better access to treatment and education and to increase migrants' awareness of the importance of contraception and transmission of STI.

Keywords

  • Abortion, Induced
  • Adult
  • Chlamydia Infections/epidemiology
  • Chlamydia trachomatis/isolation & purification
  • Cohort Studies
  • Female
  • Hospitals, University
  • Humans
  • Pregnancy
  • Prospective Studies
  • Social Class
  • Switzerland/epidemiology
  • Transients and Migrants
  • Young Adult

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

WOLFF, Hans et al. Chlamydia trachomatis prevalence in undocumented migrants undergoing voluntary termination of pregnancy: a prospective cohort study. In: BMC public health, 2008, vol. 8, p. 391. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-8-391

Main files (1)

Article (Accepted version)
CC BY

Identifiers

Additional URL for this publication

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=19025656

Journal ISSN

1471-2458
973views
837downloads

Technical informations

Creation

31/03/2009 16:06:00

First validation

31/03/2009 16:06:00

Update

14/03/2023 15:03:52

Status update

14/03/2023 15:03:52

Last indexation

29/10/2024 11:24:53
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of Geneva
OpenAIRE Indexed & Validated