Background: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated
risk factors of vaginal trichomoniasis in women referred to gynecologic clinic in
Benha University Hospital, Egypt.
Methods: Two hundred female patients enrolled in the study. Vaginal samples
were obtained from them and examined for T. vaginalis by wet mount, Giemsa
stain, Acridine orange (AO) stain and culture on modified Diamond’s medium.
For analysis of accuracy of the methods used, the receiver operating characteristic
(ROC) curve concept with culture as a gold standard was applied.
Results: Out of 200 patients, T. vaginalis was found in 22 (11%) patients by any of
the diagnostic methods used. The accuracy of AO staining comes next to Diamond’s
culture (AUC 0.909, sensitivity 81.8%, specificity 100%, CI 0.81-1.0) followed
by Giemsa staining (AUC 0.835, sensitivity 68.2%, specificity 98.9%, CI
0.72-0.95). The wet mount was the least accurate method (AUC 0.795, sensitivity
59.1%, specificity 100%, CI 0.67-0.92). There was no significant association between
potentially supposed risk factors and trichomoniasis except patients complaining
of either dysuria and dyspareunia or back pain and abdominal pain.
Conclusion: Trichomoniasis is a common disease in our community. Sociodemographic
factors do not seem to affect the prevalence among different Egyptian
population. For accurate diagnosis, laboratory investigation is essential. A positive
wet smear is diagnostic, but negative samples should be examined by methods that
are more sensitive.