Prevalence of uterine fibroids among women resident in Ogoni, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Uterine fibroids are benign tumor cells of the uterus composed of smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts rich in extracellular matrix. Due to the increased likelihood of women developing leiomyomas within their lifetime, there is a noticeable impact on quality and other aspects of life, such as financial burden and medical expenses Objective: To determine the Prevalence, age distribution, most occurring types and clinical characteristics of patients with uterine fibroid. Methods: This study is a six-year retrospective analysis on the Prevalence and age distributions of uterine fibroid among women resident in Ogoni, Rivers State, Nigeria, from January 2017 to December 2022. Medical records from Hospitals in the area were used for this study. Results: result revealed that 821 out of 5800 case files were positive for uterine fibroid giving a prevalence of 14.2. The year 2022 recorded the highest incidence of uterine fibroid (22.6), followed by the year 2021 (14.9.), 2019 (13.9), 2018 (11.9), 2020 (9.6), and 2017(8.3) respectively. Women within 26 – 35 years were significantly affected in all the years under review, with a prevalence rate of 62.6%, while older women (>35) and those younger (<26), presented an incident rate of 29.4% and 7.9% respectively. Conclusion: The study revealed that the most prevalent type of uterine fibroid in Ogoni is intramural while the least prevalent is submucosal. It also showed that women of age 26-35 years had the highest prevalence of uterine fibroid while those of age 16- 25 years had least prevalence.