Prevalence of Risk Factors for Uterine Fibroids at Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

: Objectives: To examine the prevalence of risk factors in patients suffering from uterine fibroid at tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: A crosssectional study carried out between June to December 2019 includes patients who were diagnosed with uterine fibroids in the gynecology department, SVIMS, Tirupati. The position and number of the fibroids were counted and noted by the reports of Ultrasound examinations. Especially we assessed the prevalence of risk factors for uterine fibroids based on the questionnaire filled by the patients. The data were processed with the statistical program SPSS 25 and P value less than 0.05 were considered to be statically significant. Results: A total of 137 patients was studied, the majority of subjects were below the age group of 36-50 years (63.5%) followed by 21-35 years (24.08%) and 51-65 years (12.4%). The average age of the participants was 42.08 ± 8.89 years. BMI showed that women with 25 kg/m2 to 29.9 kg/m2 (54.74%) and ≥30 kg/m2 (8.75%) experienced a higher prevalence of fibroids (χ2 =11.55, P =0.003) than women with 18.5 kg/m2 to 24.9 kg/m2 (36.49%). The average body mass index (BMI) of women with fibroids that were detected in our study was 27.5kg/m2. Other risk factors were not significantly linked with uterine fibroids. Conclusion: Fibroid prevalence had a significant correlation with age and BMI. Early detection and reduced body weight may bring down the occurrence of uterine fibroids.Key words: Uterine fibroids, Cross-sectional study, Risk factors, Obesity, Body Mass Index (BMI).