Objectives: Further information is needed on modifiable factors associated with the occurrence of acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Cigarette smoking has been implicated as a risk factor for PID sequelae, but the association between smoking and PID has yet to be fully examined.
Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate smoking as a risk factor for acute PID. The case patients (n = 131) were women health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees between the ages of 18 and 40 years who were treated for a first episode of PID. The control patients (n = 294) were randomly selected from the HMO enrollment files.
Results: Relative to never smokers, current smokers were at increased risk of PID. Women who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day had a higher risk than did those who smoked less. Available data indicate that smoking status is not serving as a marker for uncontrolled confounding by lifestyle factors.
Conclusions: Our study results suggest that smoking represents a modifiable risk factor for acute PID.