ABSTRACT
A prospective study on 120 women in labour was conducted to determine the reliability of of different methods like clinical criteria, gram staining and vaginal culture for diagnosing bacterial vaginosis(BV). To determine the laboratory methods that best predicted the BV we calculated sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of a positive and negative test for clinical criteria, gram stain criteria of Nugent and vaginal cultures compared with gram stain criteria of Spiegel. BV was diagnosed in 23.3% of women in labour by Spiegel criteria. Sensitivity and specificity of Amsel criteria was 60.7% and 97.8% respectively. Culture of vaginal specimens yielded 58.8% predictive value of a positive test except for Mobiluncus species. Gram stain evaluation of vaginal smears is a sensitive method for diagnosing BV. Amsel clinical criteria, which are more commonly used to diagnose BV, may lead to under diagnosis of BV.