Factors associated with uterine fibroid in Ghanaian women undergoing pelvic scans with suspected uterine fibroid

Abstract

BackgroundUterine fibroids are the most common benign tumours affecting premenopausal women and are often associated with considerable hospitalization and morbidity. Literature shows virtually no study concerning the quantification of the main factors associated with uterine fibroids in Ghanaian women. The purpose of this study was to assess the main factors associated with uterine fibroid among Ghanaian women presenting for ultrasound.MethodA prospective cross-sectional study design was employed in this study. A total of two hundred and forty-four (244) women were consecutively evaluated from November 2011 to February 2012 using a 2–5 MHz curvilinear probe of Philips HD3 ultrasound machines at three centres in Accra using a trans-abdominal pelvic approach. Data was analysed with (SPSS) version 20.0 for windows, 2010; Chicago. The Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to determine associations between selected demographic and gynaecological characteristics and uterine fibroid appearance. All tests were two-tailed and p-value of less than 0.05 was interpreted as significant.ResultsThe range, mean and standard deviation (SD) of the patients’ age were 14–54 years, 31.89 years and ± 7.92 respectively. Factors that associated significantly with uterine fibroid in Ghanaian women included obesity (X 2 = 17.3, p-value = 0.001), participant’s age range (X 2 = 47.4, p-value = 0.001), parity (X 2 = −10.169, p-value = 0.001), and age at last delivery (X 2 = 34.579, p-value = 0.001). ConclusionUterine fibroid was mainly associated with women of older age group of the reproductive age than the younger age categories and also associated more with women with without children compared to those with more children. Moreover, it associated more with obese patients and patient with late age at last delivery.

Association between obesity and the risk of uterine fibroids: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…For BMI, we found an inverse J-shaped pattern based on 14 studies. 12–14 16 20–23 25–27 32 33 For the weight change since age 18, we found a parabola pattern based on four studies. 13 20 23 27 When we evaluated the waist-to-hip ratio, we found a relatively horizontal line pattern based on five studies.…”

“…Finally, 22 articles met our inclusion criteria with 24 studies involving 325 899 participants and 19 593 cases were included in this meta-analysis. 12–33 Figure 1 shows the flow chart with our detailed methods for studies’ selection.…”

“…21 28 29 31 With respect to adjustment for confounders, 18 studies were adjusted 12 13 15 18–25 27 28 30–32 and 6 unadjusted. 14 16 17 26 29 33 When evaluating study quality, 17 studies were deemed to be high quality, 12 13 18–28 30 31 and 7 low quality. 14–16 18 29 32 33…”

“…14 16 17 26 29 33 When evaluating study quality, 17 studies were deemed to be high quality, 12 13 18–28 30 31 and 7 low quality. 14–16 18 29 32 33…”

“…For reports of menstrual status, 19 studies included premenopausal women, 12–24 26 27 29 31 33 5 studies contained a small number of postmenopausal participants 25 28 30 32 ; as for the assessment approaches of UFs, 17 studies used ultrasound and/or surgery, 12–15 17–20 22 23 25 26 29 31–33 5 were based on self-report 16 24 28 30 and 2 reported clinical diagnosis. 21 27 Regarding obesity, 23 studies focused on BMI, 12–17 19–33 4 on weight change since age 18, 13 20 23 27 5 on waist-to-hip ratio 13 20 22 26 32 and 4 on waist circumference. 18 20 22 32 The basic information for the included articles and quality assessment scores are presented in online supplemental file 3.…”