title: Prevalence of utero-tubal infertility.
abstract: Tubal factor infertility is the commonest cause of infertility seen in gynaecological clinics in Nigeria. This, to a large extent, is a preventable cause of infertility. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of utero-tubal factors in the causation of infertility. This is a prospective descriptive study of infertile women seen at the gynaecological clinic of the Federal Medical Centre Gombe from June 1999 to May 2002. A total of 229 infertile women were studied. The prevalence of primary and secondary infertility was 37.1% and 62.9%, respectively. Tubal factor was the cause in 67.2% and cervical factors contributed to 19.2%. The women were aged 17-44, with a mean of 28.6 +/- 5 years. There were four (1.7%) teenagers and eight (3.5%) women were aged 40 years or above. The majority, 55% (126), were in their third decade, with those aged 20-34 years constituting 86% (197) of patients. The high prevalence of tubal factor infertility in our environment is unacceptable. Primary prevention of reproductive tract infections and syndromic management of STD will go a long way in reducing the high prevalence of tubal factor infertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Audu
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Massa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bukar
authors.forename: A U
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: El-Nafaty
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Sa'ad
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003075:Coitus; D005184:Fallopian Tube Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014591:Uterine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult