Cofactors for log2 TNFα concentration
| Characteristic | Unadjusted β coefficient (95% CI) | P value | Adjusted β coefficient (95% CI)* | P value |
| Suboptimal taxa score† | 0.56 (0.06 to 1.07) | 0.029 | 0.55 (0.01 to 1.08) | 0.048 |
| Parvimonas sp type 1 concentration‡ | 0.34 (–0.12 to 0.79) | 0.143 | 0.12 (–0.34 to 0.58) | 0.608 |
| Trichomonas vaginalis infection§ | 3.35 (0.73 to 5.97) | 0.013 | 2.61 (0.04 to 5.18) | 0.047 |
| Hormonal status¶ | 0.17 (–0.08 to 0.42) | 0.176 | 0.11 (–0.14 to 0.37) | 0.365 |
| Vaginal washing** | 0.82 (–0.32 to 1.97) | 0.156 | 0.65 (–0.43 to 1.72) | 0.234 |
| Age | −0.05 (–0.10 to 0.00) | 0.032 | −0.05 (–0.10 to 0.00) | 0.059 |
| Sex partners, n†† | 0.11 (–0.51 to 0.74) | 0.727 | ||
| Frequency of unprotected sex†† | 0.44 (–0.64 to 1.52) | 0.421 | ||
| Frequency of vaginal sex in the past month‡‡ | −0.03 (–0.09 to 0.04) | 0.406 | ||
| Genital ulcer | 0.91 (–3.56 to 5.39) | 0.683 | ||
| Pregnancy status§§ | 0.84 (–0.37 to 2.04) | 0.173 |
*Combined model with adjustment for all primary predictors together with potential confounders (age, vaginal washing, T. vaginalis and hormonal status), which were selected as described in the materials and methods section.
†The suboptimal taxa score was generated by principal component analysis including the following bacterial taxa: Dialister micraerophilus, Eggerthella sp type 1, Gemella asaccharolytica, Sneathia sp, Megasphaera sp, Mycoplasma hominis and Parvimonas sp type 2. This can be interpreted as a summary statistic based on the concentrations of the aforementioned bacterial taxa in each woman.
‡Log10 concentrations of bacterial taxa.
§Diagnosed by wet preparation.
¶Hormonal status was categorised as: pregnant, no hormonal contraception or use of hormonal contraception (depomedroxyprogesterone acetate, oral contraceptive pills or implant).
**Vaginal washing was defined as insertion of cloth or finger to wash beyond the introitus.
††Recall period was the past week for the Mombasa Cohort and the past month for the Mama Salama Cohort.
‡‡Total sex acts over the past month were imputed by multiplying the frequency of sexual acts reported in the last week by 4 for the Mombasa Cohort.
§§Pregnant versus not pregnant at the time of sample collection.
TNFα, tumour necrosis factor alpha.