Is there a correlation between vaginal chlamydia infection and cervical smear abnormalities? A community-based study in the Al-Ain district, United Arab Emirates.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between vaginal chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities. The data on the prevalence of chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities have been presented elsewhere and in this article we provide the results of a correlation analysis.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional, community-based survey, women attending primary and secondary care in the Al-Ain medical district, United Arab Emirates, were offered cervical screening using the Papanicolaou smear, and chlamydia testing. A total of 793 women underwent cervical screening and 728 were tested for chlamydia. A commercially available kit was used to determine the prevalence of chlamydia. The correlation between cervical abnormalities and chlamydia infection was tested using the chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.


RESULTS
The prevalence of abnormal smears was 1.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-2.4). Twelve subjects had abnormal smears, including smears showing atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance. The prevalence of chlamydia infection in this population was 2.5% (95% CI, 1.2-3.3). Statistical analysis showed no association (chi2 0.6, P = 0.4) between the prevalence of chlamydia infection and cervical abnormalities.


CONCLUSIONS
Although there have been earlier reports of an association between vaginal chlamydia and cervical abnormalities, our study does not provide evidence to support this association.
Ghazal-Aswad
Saad
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. saad.ghazal_aswad@uaeu.ac.ae
Badrinath
Padmanabhan
P
Osman
Nawal Ahmed
NA
Abdul-Khalik
Samar
S
Raasclou
Tove
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014479:United Arab Emirates / Q000453:epidemiology; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*