Association between body mass index and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis: Results from the NHANES 2001-2004 study

Abstract

Background: The impact of bacterial vaginosis on women's health is an increasing concern; however, the effect of the obesity index on bacterial vaginosis is controversial. We investigated the association between body mass index and bacterial vaginosis in women in the United States.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study which obtained the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2001 to 2004, in which weighted multivariate regression and logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the independent relationship between body mass index and bacterial vaginosis. Subgroup analyses and smoothed curve fitting were also performed.

Results: A total of 5,428 participants were enrolled, and the findings show that the participants with higher body mass index tended to have a higher incidence of bacterial vaginosis. In the fully adjusted model, a positive association between bacterial vaginosis and body mass index was observed (Odd's ratio = 1.03, 95% Confidence interval, 1.01-1.04). The subgroup analysis showed that this positive association was significant in non-Hispanic White individuals (Odd's ratio = 1.0327, 95% Confidence interval, 1.0163, 1.0493).

Conclusion: Increased bacterial vaginosis positivity may be associated with an increased body mass index.

Fig 1. The association between BMI and BV.

A) Solid line plot of curve fitting with BV and bmi as variables. The red line indicates the smooth curve fit between the variables. The 95% confidence interval of the fit is shown by the blue bar. (B) Curve-fit solid line plot of the relationship between BV and BMI analysed stratified by race.1: Non-Hispanic White,2: Non-Hispanic Black,3: Mexican American,4: Other race/ethnicity.