Genital mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas in cervicovaginal self-collected samples of reproductive-age women: prevalence and risk factors

The purpose of this study was to characterise the prevalence and risk factors associated with genital mycoplasmas (Mycoplasma hominis [MH], M. genitalium [MG]) and ureaplasmas (Ureaplasma urealyticum [UU], U. parvum [UP]) in Portuguese women of reproductive age. The cross-sectional study included 612 cervicovaginal self-collected samples from women aged 15–44 years, tested for MH, MG, UU, UP by polymerase chain reaction. Y chromosome (Yc) DNA was detected as a biomarker of recent unprotected sexual intercourse. The prevalences of UU, UP, MH and MG were 28.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.0–32.1), 22.4% (95% CI 19.3–25.9), 8.5% (95% CI 6.5–11.0) and 0.8% (95% CI 0.4–1.9), respectively. Overall, women aged 20–29 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.78; P = 0.010) and the presence of Yc-DNA (OR 2.33; P = 0.038) were associated with an increased risk of UU. Lifetime number of sexual partners was a predictor of UU, UP and MH (OR 2.46; P