title: HIV-1 infection and fertility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the association of HIV-1 infection with rates of pregnancy and pregnancy loss in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A retrospective cohort study of 1,006 HIV-infected women and 485 uninfected women was employed. In multivariate analyses controlling for other predictors of pregnancy, the association of HIV-seropositivity with a woman's reported number of pregnancies was of borderline significance (RR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.27). HIV infection was not associated with pregnancy loss in multivariate analysis. The adjusted pregnancy rate ratio comparing HIV-positive women at the earliest stages of infection to all uninfected women was 1.22 (95% CI = 1.04, 1.42). HIV infection was not associated with female fertility when comparing women in the most advanced stages of infection to all uninfected women. We conclude that HIV-1 infected women had higher pregnancy rates than uninfected women. This association disappeared when analyses were limited to women with advanced disease. Abstract word count: 150.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. gsedgh@buttmacher.org
authors.forename: Gilda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sedgh
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Larsen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spiegelman
authors.forename: Genard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Msamanga
authors.forename: Wafaie W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Fawzi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D036801:Parturition; D011247:Pregnancy; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology