Abstract:
Background: Syphilis is a disease caused by the bacteria Treponemal pallidum. Syphilis is a
major cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy and it is one of the greatest public health
challenges. Ethiopia is one of the countries with a high prevalence of Sexually transmitted
infections. However, data on the extent of syphilis is limited.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of syphilis and its associated factors among
pregnant women attending antenatal Care Clinic in Debre Berhan Town Public Health
Institutions, North Shewa Zone, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia.
Methods: A facility based cross sectional study was carried out among pregnant women
attending antenatal care clinic. A total of 376 study participants were included in the study. The
participants were chosen using systematic random sampling techniques. The data were collected
using structured questionnaire and three data collectors took part in this study. Two milliliters of
blood sample has taken to determine the prevalence of syphilis using Venereal Disease Research
Laboratory (VDRL test). The data were entered in EPI data manager version 3.3 and analyzed
using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to
describe. A Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) was determined to assess the strength
of association. For all statistically significant tests p- value<0.05 was used as a cut-off point.
Result: A total of 362 study participants were successfully involved in the study yielding a
response rate of 96.3%. Out of the study participants, 8 (2.2%) of pregnant women were found to
be reactive to syphilis test. The prevalence of syphilis‑HIV co‑infection among pregnant women
were 2 (0.55%). Participants who had no formal education were 25.54 times more likely to get
infected with syphilis than those who had formal education (AOR=25.54, 95% CI: 1.63- 77.50).
Having poor knowledge about syphilis (AOR=2.32, 95%CI: 1.27-12.42), previous history of STI
(AOR=13.24, 95%CI: 1.95- 33.24) and reactive for HIV/AIDS (AOR=8.03, 95%CI:1.75-15.97)
are significant predictors of syphilis.
Conclusion and recommendation: The present study showed syphilis was prevalent among the
study participants. Therefore, effective health education program focusing on sexual transmitted
infections should be provided at health facilities.
Key words: Syphilis, VDRL, sero prevalence, pregnancy, ST
