Urogenital Involvements and Musculoskeletal Complaints in Women: An Interview Study and Clinical Investigation with Special Reference to Chlamydial Infections

Abstract

To study the correlation of urogenital involvements and musculoskeletal complaints in females, 311 randomly selected women, aged 15 to 54, were interviewed. In addition, clinical gynecological examination including isolation and serology of Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) was performed for 30 consecutive volunteers. A history of musculoskeletal complaints occurred in 218 (70.1%) and a history of urogenital involvements in 244 (78.5%) of the 311 women. The number of urogenital involvements in 218 females with musculoskeletal complaints was 453, a significantly higher frequency than the 120 urogenital involvements in 93 females without musculoskeletal complaints. The most important urogenital involvements appeared to be cervicitis, dysuria, Trichomonas vaginalis infections and pyelocystitis/-nephritis. Regarding the musculoskeletal complaints, histories of unexplained dorsalgia and anamnestic joint pains in the extremities occurred more often in the females with a history of urogenital involvements than in those without such a history. There were anamnestic urogenital involvements in 28 (93.3%) of the 30 volunteers. The clinical investigation revealed gynecological disease in only 16 (53.3%). Isolation of Ct was negative in 29 and contaminated in one. Chlamydial unmunofluorescence serology was positive (titres≥64) in 5 (16.7%). The results of this study speak for the importance of infections in the genito-urinary tract as a possible triggering factor in rheumatic disorders in females. This conception is supported by the correlation of the musculoskeletal complaints especially with past histories of urogenital involvement. No such correlation was found with recent histories of urinary tract involvements, nor with the actual pathological findings of those gynecologically examined.