Do prior contraceptive methods impact maternal carriage in patients with hepatitis B?

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is highly endemic in many Asian countries.

Objectives: We examined whether prior contraceptive methods and sexual behavioral factors impact maternal HBV carriage in an obstetric population.

Patients And Methods: For this study, pregnant women were considered to be representative of the sexually active and fertile female population. Contraceptive methods used prior to the index pregnancy were examined in 1283 pregnant Chinese women attending an antenatal clinic using a self-administered questionnaire, and correlated with the maternal HBV status determined using routine antenatal screening.

Results: In our study, 111 (8.7%) women were infected with HBV and there was no difference in the incidence of male condom usage between HBV-positive (88.3%) and HBV-negative (83.5%) women. No contraceptive method was associated with a reduced incidence of maternal HBV carriage, except for coitus interruptus. In multivariate analysis, only multiparity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.62) and more than 1 sexual partner (aOR, 1.57) were independent factors associated with maternal HBV carriage.

Conclusions: Contraceptive use played only a minimal role in preventing sexual transmission of HBV infection within the sexually active female population in an endemic area.