Current cigarette smoking and risk of acute pelvic inflammatory disease.
OBJECTIVE
Further information is needed on modifiable factors associated with the occurrence of acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Cigarette smoking has been implicated as a risk factor for PID sequelae, but the association between smoking and PID has yet to be fully examined.


METHODS
We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate smoking as a risk factor for acute PID. The case patients (n = 131) were women health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees between the ages of 18 and 40 years who were treated for a first episode of PID. The control patients (n = 294) were randomly selected from the HMO enrollment files.


RESULTS
Relative to never smokers, current smokers were at increased risk of PID. Women who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day had a higher risk than did those who smoked less. Available data indicate that smoking status is not serving as a marker for uncontrolled confounding by lifestyle factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study results suggest that smoking represents a modifiable risk factor for acute PID.
Scholes
D
D
Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Seattle, Wash. 98101.
Daling
J R
JR
Stergachis
A S
AS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D017533:Marital Status; D010298:Parity; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014621:Vagina; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology