Abstract
Objective. To investigate the occurrence of, and risk factors for, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) occurring during the post-partum year.Methods. Demographic and clinical data for women who delivered a term infant with 5-minute Apgar score ≥ 8 from 1992 through 1999 at a large urban hospital were extracted from an electronic medical record system.Results. During the study period, 15 206 deliveries occurred among 12 549 women. PID was diagnosed during the postpartum year of 148 (1.0%) deliveries. In univariate analysis, young age, black race, and both pre-delivery history and postpartum diagnosis of chlamydial and gonococcal infection were associated with PID. In multivariate analysis, only young age and a positive test for gonorrhea before delivery or post-partum were independent predictors of PID.Conclusions. Pelvic inflammatory disease was diagnosed during the post-partum year in 1% of women studied. Young maternal age was an important demographic risk factor. Further investigation of post-partum STD acquisition and progression to PID is needed to determine whether women are at increased risk following delivery.