A case-control study of VDRL-positive antenatal clinic attenders at the Port Moresby General Hospital Antenatal Clinic and Labour Ward to determine outcomes, sociodemographic features and associated risk factors.

Between June 2001 and December 2002, 152 antenatal patients at Port Moresby General Hospital who were Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) serology positive and 150 unselected antenatal patients who tested negative were studied to determine the gestational age at which the tests were performed, the time it took for results to become available, the proportion of patients who received treatment, the sociodemographic characteristics associated with VDRL positivity and the effect of VDRL positivity on maternal and perinatal outcomes. The prevalence rate of VDRL positive among antenatal clinic attenders in Port Moresby at that time was 4.4%. Of the 152 VDRL-positive patients in this study 97% were also Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) positive. Significantly more of the positive patients were of highlands origin, lived in settlements, had previous marriages, had lower parities, delivered preterm babies, had stillbirths, had growth-restricted babies and had babies with lower Apgar scores at both 1 and 5 minutes. The mean birthweight was significantly lower among the positive patients. Significantly more of the positive patients were married to spouses with occupations which were regarded as 'risky' for sexually transmitted infections. There was no difference between the two groups with respect to patient's education, marital status, husband's education, gestational age at delivery and the number of days the baby spent in the Special Care Unit. The study concluded that the current antenatal screening does not provide adequate coverage for our patients. If the current availability of clinic-based strip tests provided by a non-government organization can be continued by the Ministry of Health we should be able to overcome this problem.