European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ASSOCATION BETWEEN AGE, BMI, AND THE TYPE AND LOCATION OF UTERINE LEIOMYMA: A UPTH STUDY

*Okon Michael and Olotu E. Joy

ABSTRACT

Uterine leiomyoma is the most frequent pelvic mass found in women of child bearing age. They occur in 20-50% of women with increasing incidence as women get older. This study evaluated the association between age, BMI, and the type and location of intrauterine leiomyoma in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, Nigeria over a twelve year period. The study was a retrospective research which utilised clinical records to retrieve subject information as well as anthropological data from women clinically diagnosed with uterine leiomyoma who attended the obstetrics and gynaecological unit of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital from 2007 to 2018. A total of 318 cases were obtained with complete records and the data extracted to excel sheet. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 23, IBM, Armonk, USA) was used to analyse the data. Chi-Square evaluated the association between categorical variables. Decision Tree using Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) estimated which subject’s characteristics was significantly associated with their clinical presentation. The result showed that age group was not a significant indicator for type (single or multiple) and location of the uterine leiomyoma (P>0.05); however, age group ≥35 years had the highest incidence (50%). CHAID analysis showed that significantly higher BMI (specific to subserous leiomyomas), in leiomyoma subjects was associated with multiple locations when compared to lower BMI (P<0.05). From the findings, it could be concluded that higher body mass index (BMI) and age was significantly associated with the incidence and location of the different types of the leiomyoma.

Keywords: Age, BMI, Women, Incidence, Uterine Leiomyoma, Rivers State.