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Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse and associated factors in Southern Nations, Nationalities, People’s Region referral hospitals, Ethiopia

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Pelvic organ prolapse is one of the major causes of morbidity among women that affect their quality of life. Despite the severity of the problem, there is limited information in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of symptomatic POP and its associated factors.

Methods

An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out in the referral hospitals of Southern Nations, Nationalities, People’s Region, Ethiopia. Women were initially interviewed about their prolapse symptoms using validated questionnaires, and if they answered yes to one or more of the questions, they were examined by gynecologists using simplified POP quantification. Pelvic examination results and patient-reported symptoms were used to determine symptomatic POP. A multivariate logistic regression analysis model was used to identify factors associated with symptomatic prolapse.

Results

A total of 1,196 respondents were included in this study. The prevalence of symptomatic POP was found to be 20.1%. Age of women ≥55 years (AOR=8.39; 95% CI 3.41–20.62), carrying heavy objects for ≥ 5 h (AOR= 5.18; 95% CI 2.51–10.69), parity ≥4 times (AOR=2.98; 95% CI 1.60–5.53), history of home delivery (AOR= 2.90; 95% CI 1.50–5.61), giving birth through assisted vaginal delivery (AOR=5.01; 95% CI 1.73–14.53), history of chronic constipation (AOR=2.66; 95% CI 1.38–5.15), and a history of a chronic cough (AOR=9.18; 95% CI 4.52–18.61) were associated with symptomatic POP.

Conclusions

In this study the prevalence of symptomatic POP is high. Older age, long hours of carrying heavy objects, a high parity, last birth through assisted vaginal delivery, a history of home delivery, a history of chronic constipation, and a history of a chronic cough were found to be associated with symptomatic POP.

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Abbreviations

AOR:

Adjusted odds ratio

AVD:

Assisted vaginal delivery

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

CS:

Cesarean section

N/E/M:

Nigist Eleni Memorial

OPD:

Outpatient department

OR:

Odds ratio

POP:

Pelvic organ prolapse

SD:

Standard deviation

SVD:

Spontaneous vaginal delivery

SNNPR:

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region

SPSS:

Statistical Package of Social Sciences

VD:

Vaginal delivery

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the study participants for devoting their time to providing us with genuine information and to the University of Gondar for the financial support for the data collection.

Funding

University of Gondar sponsored this study but the university has no role in manuscript preparation and publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Health, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, PO Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Ever Siyoum Shewarega, Alehegn Bishaw Geremew & Elsa Awoke Fentie

Authors
  1. Ever Siyoum Shewarega
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  2. Alehegn Bishaw Geremew
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  3. Elsa Awoke Fentie
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Contributions

E.S. Shewarega conceived the idea, developed the proposal, participated in designing, acquisition of data, data management and analysis, interpretation, and manuscript write-up. Both A.B. Geremew and E.A. Fentie participated equally in designing, data management and analysis interpretation, and manuscript write-up. All authors read and approved the final manuscript, and agreed to submit it for publication.

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Correspondence to Ever Siyoum Shewarega.

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Data-sharing statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Shewarega, E.S., Geremew, A.B. & Fentie, E.A. Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse and associated factors in Southern Nations, Nationalities, People’s Region referral hospitals, Ethiopia. Int Urogynecol J 34, 125–134 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-022-05280-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-022-05280-9

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