Risk Factors for Early Preterm Birth at King Salman Armed Force Hospital in 2010

To investigate risk factors for early preterm birth.

A retrospective comparative study was conducted at Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period from January to December 2010. Five hundred and ninety-five patient's files and delivery registry logbooks were reviewed, the following information was collected; demographic data, current and past obstetric histories. Then the early and late preterm births were compared for various risk factors. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 22) was used. The Chi-square and t-test were used to test the statistical significance and a P-value<0.05 considered significant.

Prevalence of early preterm birth was found to be 2.5% in our study group. Women at risk for early preterm birth were: primigravidas (33.7% vs. 26.2% for control), P-value 0.039, OR 1.429 and 95% CI 0.982 - 2.079); multiple gestations (87.7% vs. 95.1% for control, P-value 0.002, OR 0.368 and 95% CI 0.196 - 0.688); and patients with a prior history of placental abruption (3.7% vs. 1.0% for control, P-value 0.027, OR3.928 and 95% CI 1.1360 - 13.586).

Current study indicated that early preterm births differed from preterm as a whole; primigravida, multiple gestations and a history of placental abruption are independent risk factors for them.