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2023 Faculty of Clinical Medicine and Dentistry IAA Journal of Applied Sciences

Indicators of Urinary Tract Infections using Point of Care Testing among Primigravidas attending Antenatal care at Oli Health Center IV in Arua City.

Enzama, Emmanuel Johnson

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) continue to be the global leading infection among primigravidaswith over 50% of them suffering at least one incidence of UTI during their course of pregnancy.In Arua at Oli Hospital, there is no study that has been done to determine the indicators of UTIusing point-of-care testing among primigravidas. Therefore, this study intended to determinethe indicators of UTI using point-of-care testing among primigravidas attending antenatal careat Oli Health Center IV in Arua City. This was a prospective descriptive cross-sectional studyinvolving a sample size of 138 respondents. Data was collected using a self-generatedquestionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 22.0. In this study of 138 participants, themajority 83(60.1%) of the respondents were aged 20-30 years. Results revealed that nitriteswere present in 62(44.9%) urine samples whereas leukocytes (+++) were present in 65(47.1%)of the urine samples. The prevalence of urinary tract infections among primigravidas was51.4%. It was found that 62(92.5%) of the symptomatic respondents had lower abdominal pain,more than three quarters 57(85.1%) of the symptomatic respondents had painful urinationmore than a quarter 22(32.8%) of the symptomatic respondents had a frequency of urination,less than a quarter 12(17.9%) of the symptomatic respondents had forceful urination morethan three quarters 58(86.6%) of the symptomatic respondents had abnormal PV discharge,twenty-eight (41.8%) of the symptomatic respondents had urgency for micturition while morethan three quarters 54(80.6%) of the symptomatic respondents had burning sensation onurination. Based on the study findings, we concluded that both nitrites and leukocytes werekey indicators of urinary tract infections. The clinical presentations of urinary tract infectionswere lower abdominal pain, painful urination, frequency of urination, forceful urination,abnormal PV discharge, urgency for micturition and burning sensation on urination. Theresearchers recommended that health workers routinely carry out proper clerkship anddipstick tests for appropriate diagnosis of urinary tract infections among primigravidas.