Chlamydia trachomatisinfection among female inmates at Briman prison in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BackgroundChlamydia trachomatis infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the western countries; its prevalence in the conservative Muslim population of Saudi Arabia is not known, but it is generally believed to be low. This study is the first to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for C. trachomatis infection in the high-risk group of female inmates at Briman Prison in Jeddah.MethodsThe inmates were interviewed using a pre-designed questionnaire, and their urine samples were tested for C. trachomatis infection by real-time PCR assay.ResultsThe overall prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was 8.7% in the study population. The ≤25 age group was predominantly affected, with an average prevalence of 16.6%. Two out of five (2/5, 40%) Yamani, (4/33 12.1%) Indonesian, (3/33, 9.1%) Somalian and (2/26, 7.7%) Ethiopian inmates were positive for infection. None of the Saudi inmates (0/14) were positive for infection. Among the studied variables, only age was significantly associated with the infection rate. The other variables (marital status, nationality, religion, employment status, education level, nature of the offense committed, knowledge about protection from STIs, and knowledge about condom use and the purpose of condom use) did not show a significant correlation with Chlamydia infection.ConclusionsThe overall prevalence of C. trachomatis infection was within the range published by other reports in similar prison settings in developed countries. The results indicate the need for a countrywide screening and treatment program for all inmates at the time of entry into prison.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Chlamydia trachomatis Infection in Female Sex Workers Living in Isfahan, Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Our study and a study in Saudi Arabia, showed that neither marital status nor educational level associated with Chlamydia infection [14]. However, Kwankwo et al [15] authenticated that, by comparison to the single women, Chlamydia infection was more prevalent amongst married or divorced females.…”

Prevalence and characteristics of mental and physical disorders among female prisoners: a mixed-methods systematic review

“…Hepatitis B varied from 0.6% to (Rezende et al , 2020) to 3.3% (Arends et al , 2019), while hepatitis C varied from 2.3% (Arends et al , 2019) to 52.3% (Viitanen et al , 2011). The prevalence of chlamydia infection was 8.7% (Fageeh et al , 2014) and trichomonas 8.5% (Sutcliffe et al , 2010). Prevalence of HIV varied from 1% (Viitanen et al , 2011) to 18.8% (Smith et al , 1991).…”

Facilitators and barriers to condom use in Middle East and North Africa: a systematic review

“…Thirty-seven quantitative studies: 1996 to 2021, 11 Lebanon (Adib et al 2002;Barbour and Salameh 2009;Kahhaleh et al 2009;Mahfoud et al 2010;Wagner et al 2014;Salameh et al 2016;Tohme et al 2016;Heimer et al 2017;Assi et al 2019;Storholm et al 2021;Zaki et al 2021), seven Egypt (Kabbash et al 2007;El-Sayyed et al 2008;Nada and Suliman 2010;Soliman et al 2010;Wahdan et al 2013;Saleh et al 2014;Farghaly et al 2020), five Sudan (Ibnouf et al 2007;Abdelrahim 2010;Zeidan et al 2011;Mohamed and Mahfouz 2013;Mohamed 2014), four Saudi Arabia (Fageeh 2014;Wafa et al 2014;Alhusain et al 2018;Aladham et al 2020), four Jordan (Alkaiyat et al 2014;Al Rifai et al 2015;Al-Maharma et al 2019;Alyahya et al 2019), two in Morocco (Laraqui et al 2017;Bozicevic et al 2018), and one each in Iraq (Ismael and Sabir Zangana 2012), Yemen (Mirzazadeh et al 2014), allowed by any social norm or endorsed by any law in any society in the world" (Petro-Nustas and Al-Qutob 2002) The most stated reasons given for not using condoms by men were 'I don't like condoms' and 'reduced sexual pleasure' (Adib et al 2002;…”

“…Frequently used for contraception and prevention. Prisoners (Fageeh 2014;Wafa et al 2014) Very low use of condoms in prisoners (in and outside prison), most using condoms for contraception. Men who have sex with men (Mahfoud et al 2010;Alkaiyat et al 2014;Mirzazadeh et al 2014;Wagner et al 2014;Tohme et al 2016;Heimer et al 2017;Assi et al 2019;Storholm et al 2021) Consistent condom use in MSM is low and even less when engaging in group sex and with women.…”