[Prevalence of vaginal candidiasis in a low-risk obstetric population in Santander]. / Prevalencia de candidiasis vaginal en una población obstétrica de bajo riesgo en Santander.

OBJECTIVES: To find the prevalence of vaginal candidiasis in pregnant women monitored through primary care and to see whether it is on the increase. DESIGN: Descriptive and retrospective study of pregnant women. SETTING: Cazoña Health District (34,783 inhabitants). SUBJECTS: The entire obstetric population monitored by our health centre between 1992 and 1997 inclusive. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Retrospective study of clinical histories of all the pregnant women seen at our health centre (878 pregnancies). After discounting those referred to obstetricians, abortions/miscarriages and premature births, 549 normal low-risk pregnancies (62.30% of the total) were monitored to completion in primary care. The women's age range was 16 to 40. The mean prevalence of candidiasis was 18% (CI, 15.0-21.6). Its frequency increased as the number of pregnancies increased and dropped as the age of the pregnant women increased. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence found in our study was 18% and did not increase as the years passed.