Objective   To examine the prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) infection in married women and the correlation of UU infection with obsterical history, induced abortion history, and sexual behavior and to provide evidences for the prevention and control of reproductive tract infection.

  Methods   Using cluster random sampling, we recruited 650 married women aged 20 – 49 years from physical examinees at a medical institution in Shanghai city and then a self-administered questionnaire survey, gynecologic examination and laboratory detection were conducted among the women from March 2016 through February 2017.

  Results  Of 597 participants with complete information, 358 (60.0%) were diagnosed with UU infection. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that primary contraception method, the age at first sexual intercourse and parity were influencing factors for UU infection. Compared with those not taking contraceptive measures, the participants using condom as a main method of contraception had a lower risk of UU infection (odds ratio OR = 0.575, 95% confidence interval 95% CI: 0.331 – 0.998); the UU infection risk of the participants having first sexual activity at the age of ≥ 24 years was lower than that of those having the activity at the age of ≤ 21 years (OR = 0.588, 95% CI: 0.368 – 0.939); the participants with the parity greater or equal to 2 had a lower UU infection risk than those with the parity less than 2 (OR = 0.601, 95% CI: 0.400 – 0.903). No statistical correlation of induced abortion history and the sexual intercourse frequency with UU infection was observed.

  Conclusion   The prevalence rate of UU infection is high among married women and having first sexual intercourse at elder age and promoting condom use may reduce UU infection risk among the women.