RELATION OF TUBAL INFERTILITY TO HISTORY OF SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASES

We studied the history of sexually transmitted diseases in 283 nullipa rous women diagnosed with infertility due to tubal adhesions or occlus ion and 3,833 women admitted for delivery at seven collaborating hospi tals. The adjusted risks of tubal infertility associated with the hist ory of each sexually transmitted disease were estimated by the odds ra tios obtained by multiple logistic regression. Women who reported prio r infection with gonorrhea were at a significantly increased risk of t ubal infertility (relative odds = 2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.3-4.4 ). In addition, the risk of tubal infertility was almost twice as high in women who recalled previous trichomoniasis compared with women wit h no such infection (relative odds = 1.9, 95% confidence interval 1.3- 2.8). Furthermore, there was a trend of increasing risk with an increa sing number of episodes of gonorrhea or trichomoniasis.