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Background: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with asymptomatic bacteriuria among pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to determine the prevalence of uro-pathogens among pregnant women attending Antenatal Clinic at Weija-Gbawe Municipal Hospital. The data was collected between May 2023 and October 2023. The data collection process involved the use of a structured questionnaire, while urine specimens were collected in sterile urine containers and cultured on CLED medium. The bacteria colonies were identified and evaluated for their susceptibility to antibacterial agents. Multiple logistics regression was used to determine the factors associated with bacteriuria among pregnant women. Results: The age range of the participants was 14 years to 45 years with mean age of 30 years (SD±6.5). About 13% of the participants had no formal education. Majority (77.4%) of study participants were obese while only 3.42% had normal weight. Isolates were Escherichia coli (27%), Klebsiella species (23%), Proteus species (18%) and Citrobacter koseri (18%). Gentamicin was sensitive to E. coli and cotrimoxazole was the most resistant antibiotics. Factors such as BMI, educational level, smoking status, recurrent UTI, parity were not found to have statistical influence on prevalence of bacteriuria among pregnant women. Conclusions: The study revealed 15.1% prevalence of ASB among pregnant women with E. coli being the predominate isolates. Gentamicin and cotrimoxazole were the most sensitive and resistant antibiotics respectively. Pregnant women should be advised to adhere to optimal hygiene practices and safe sexual behaviours, with a focus on the role of these practices in preventing uro-pathogen colonization.
Kwashie et al. (Fri,) studied this question.