OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the risk factors associated with syphilis in pregnant women attended at a mother and child center in Lima, Peru.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Observational, retrospective, analytical case-control study performed in a population of pregnant women screened for syphilis at the Centro Materno Infantil Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, Peru, from January 2015 to July 2020. A group of cases of pregnant women diagnosed with syphilis, with reactive test PRS-PRD or RPR-VDRL under any title, according to the definition of the Ministry of Health of Peru and a control group of pregnant women without syphilis diagnosis were integrated. For the bivariate analysis between sociodemographic, obstetric and behavioral factors with gestational syphilis, the Fisher's exact and Pearson´s 2 exact statistical test was used.

RESULTS:

Of 189 pregnant women attended during the study period, 63 had a positive reactive test for syphilis; of these, 34 were adolescents. Of the pregnant women without syphilis, the majority (n = 124) were older than 19 years and only 2 were adolescents. The most significant risk factors for syphilis in pregnant women were being an adolescent (p < 0.01), coming from a marginal urban area (p < 0.01), being single (p < 0.01), low schooling, and being a housewife (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS:

The factors that significantly increase the probability of having syphilis in pregnant women attended at a maternal and child center in Lima, Peru, were adolescent age, urban-marginal origin, single, prenatal desertion, early onset of sexual intercourse, two or more sexual partners, and not using a condom.