Abstract
Background
Phosphorus, an essential constituent of the human body, not only is present in human tissues but also actively participates in numerous metabolic processes. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a condition that is widely observed in women and is considered to be a common problem in the field of gynecology, involves inflammation of female pelvic reproductive organs such as the uterus, fallopian tube, and ovary, along with the surrounding connective tissue and peritoneum. The objective of this study was to examine how dietary phosphorus intake is related to the prevalence of PID.
Methods
The female participants included in our cross-sectional investigation were sourced from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning the years 2015 to 2018. Various statistical methods, such as regression equations with multiple factors, analyses within subgroups, and smooth curve fitting were utilized to analyze the relationship between dietary phosphorus intake and PID incidence.
Results
A decrease in PID incidence is associated with increased dietary phosphorus intake. Model 1, adjusted for age and ethnicity, exhibited a strong connection between dietary phosphorus consumption and PID (OR = 0.9995, 95% CI = 0.9992-0.9998, p = 0.002655), a finding further supported by Model 2, which underwent full adjustments (OR = 0.9996, 95% CI = 0.9993-0.9999, p = 0.011260). Moreover, a notable pattern toward a negative correlation between phosphorus intake and PID was observed in the tertile subgroups (OR < 1, p < 0.05), indicating a robust association. Additionally, the smoothed curves revealed a consistent link between PID and dietary phosphorus consumption.
Conclusions
The incidence of PID was found to be negatively linked to dietary phosphorus intake in this cross-sectional study. Nonetheless, additional prospective studies are required to confirm a direct link between dietary phosphorus and PID, bearing in mind the limitations of the current study.