ADVERSE PREGNANCY OUTCOME IN PATIENTS HAVING INTERPREGNANCY INTERVAL LESS THAN 12 MONTHS

Abstract

Background; The time interval between pregnancies is considered to be an important and modifiable risk factor in terms of adverse perinatal outcomes. Objective: To determine the frequency of preterm labour in patients with short interpregnancy interval. Subjects and Methods; Patients with interpregnancy interval (n = 223) equal or less than 12 months having gestational age between 24 and 40 weeks with parity more than 1 were included in our study. Data was entered and analyzed by SPSS version 20. Results; Of these 223 study cases, 198 (88.8 %) were Housewives while 25 (11.2 %) were working ladies. Mean age of our study cases was 26.93 ± 3.96 years. Of these 223 study cases, 74 (33.2%) belonged to rural areas and 149 (66.8 %) belonged to urban areas. Monthly family income up to Rs. 25000 was noted in 67 (30%) and more than Rs. 25000 was noted in 156 (70.0%) of our study cases. Of these 223 study cases, 158 (70.9%) were illiterate and 65 (29.1%) were literate. Of these 223 study cases, 50 (22.4%) were Urdu speaking, 58 (26%) were Punjabi, 82 (36.8%) were Saraiki, 17 (7.6%) were Baloch, 8 (3.6%) were Kashmiri and 8 (3.6%) were Pathan. Mean height was 161.24 ± 9.23 centimeters while mean weight was 62.23 ± 8.58 kilograms. Mean body mass index of our study cases was 26.25 ± 1.93 kg/m² and obesity was present in 49 (22%) of our study cases. Mean inter-pregnancy interval was noted to be 8.52 ± 3.11 months. Mean gestational age was 38.23 ± 2.56 weeks and preterm labor was noted in 80 (35.9%) of our study cases

Conclusion; Short interpregnancy interval leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Very high frequency of preterm labor was noted in our study cases having interpregnancy interval less than 12 months. Short interprgnancy interval was common in poor and uneducated families. Preterm labor was significantly associated with age, residential status, obesity, ethnicity and literacy.

Keywords;Short Interpregnancy interval, Preterm labor, Frequency