Among urban, primarily African American pregnant women, 74% were identified with Nugent score bacterial vaginosis (BV). All BV-associated bacteria were more prevalent among women with Nugent score BV. Bacterial vaginosisYassociated bacteria 3 (BVAB3) had the highest positive predictive value, whereas Gardnerella vaginalis and Atopobium spp. had the highest sensitivity. Atopobium spp. levels had the most significant area under the curve.

Understanding the relationship between bacterial vaginosis (BV) and reproductive health has increasingly become important, particularly with the advent of numerous methods to measure and quantify BV. 1Y3 Bacterial vaginosis is most commonly assessed using 2 diagnostic approaches: the Amsel criteria or the Nugent criteria. 4, 5 The Amsel criteria are based on reported symptoms, and the Nugent criteria are based on bacterial morphology. Molecular assays using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) have also been developed to assess the vaginal level of various hard-to culture BV-associated bacteria among pregnant and nonpregnant women1, 2, 6 Numerous reports have documented the ubiquity of BV among reproductive-aged women and have consistently concluded that the highest rates of BVoccur among urban, primarily African American women. 7, 8 Reports have linked BV to a 2-fold increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB), but many BV-positive women deliver at term. 9Y13 Thus, the identification of the particular BV-associated bacteria most linked to BV could dramatically improve the efficacy of BV treatment, the development of prenatal screening methods to identify high-risk pregnant women, and the assessment of more effective treatment options to reduce SPTB among high-risk subgroups of pregnant women. 14