PREVALENCE OF SYPHILIS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINIC OF BULCHANA HEALTH CENTER, SHASHEMENE, WEST ARSI ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Background: Syphilis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy and it is one of the greatest public health challenges. It is responsible for up to 30% of perinatal mortality. Ethiopia is one of the countries in which sexually transmitted infection (STIs) are highly prevalent. However, the data needed to present a realistic picture of the prevalence of syphilis are limited. Objective: To determine the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant mothers attending Antenatal Clinic of Bulchana health center, Shashemene, West Arsi Zone, Ethiopia, 2017. Materials and Methods: Health institution based retrospective cross sectional study was conducted from April 01 to June 01, 2017 among women attended Antenatal Clinic of Bulchana health center during the period of 2014 to 2016. Non probability sampling technique was used to recruit study participants.  A total of 4346 pregnant women were included in  this study. Data was captured by reviewing and observation of a recorded data at the ANC registration book using pre-tested structured check list. Data were entered and cleaned using EpiData version 3.0. and analyzed by SPSS version 21. Binary logistic regression was used and significant variables were further adjusted using multivariate analysis. A p-value <0.05 was considered as level of significance. Result: In this study the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women found to be 1.1% 95%CI [0.8-1.3]. Relatively high prevalence of syphilis 15(1.5%) was observed among age group of 15-19 years. The prevalence of syphilis was high among pregnant women living in rural area 35(1.1%). Being rural dwellers and those with multiple pregnancy, 2-4 and more than 5 pregnancies showed significant association with prevalence of syphilis infection. [(OR=0.68, 95%CI (5.33, 17.32), P=0.04)], [(OR=10, 95% CI(1.36, 74.42), p= 0.02] and  [(OR=2.18, 95%CI(1.20, 3.95), p= 0.01],  respectively. Conclusion: The observed seroprevalence of syphilis among women attending ANC still mandates effective health education campaigns to elucidate the risk factors and prevention of syphilis not only to pregnant women but also the public at large. Strengthening service delivery at the provider and facility level to improve prompt access to effective syphilis diagnostic and treatment services is mandatory. Keywords: syphilis, pregnant women, ANC, Shashemene Ethiopia.