Kasmera (May 2004)
Bacterial Vaginosis: Evaluation of Some Diagnostic Methods
Abstract
A prospective and cross-sectional study was designed to compare various diagnostics methods for bacterial vaginosis (VB). One hundred and one women who attended the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department and the Chinquiquira Hospital were included in the study; to whom Amsel´s criteria (regarded as a standard diagnostic test) were applied, and samples of vaginal secretion were evaluated by both methods: Papanicolau smear and Gram stain (both of which are microscopic diagnosis methods). VB prevalence was 27.72%. High sensitivity and negative predictive value in all methods were obtained (85.71% and 90.24 to 92%, respectively ). Also specificity (50.68 to 63.01%) and positive predictive values (40 to 47.50%) were low. Eficiency varied little between methods analyzed (60.39 to 69.30%). Amsel´s criteria as a diagnostic tool is still recommended in situations where microscopic capabilities are unavailable. Further evaluation as to other factors such as the costbenefit relation should be measured to establish which one of the actual laboratory methods is the “best paraclinical standard” for VB.
