Prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and evaluation of pregnancy outcomes: a retrospective study

According to the World Health Organization, adolescent pregnancy is defined as pregnancies of women aged 19 and below. The study aims to analyze the rates of adolescent pregnancies and maternal and fetal outcomes among births within the hospital and compare them with adult pregnancies.

The study is conducted retrospectively in one of Turkey's socio-economically underdeveloped provinces. The study comprises 16,985 women: 1719 adolescents and 15,266 adults who gave birth in the hospital between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023. All data were recorded in the SPSS 28.0 program, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Chi-Square test, ANOVA, and Independent Simple T-test were applied to analyze the data.

In the study, the adolescent pregnancy rate is found to be 10,1%. The mean maternal age (p = 0.000), gravida (p = 0.000), parity (p = 0.000), and number of abortions (p = 0.002) are significantly higher in the adult group. No difference is found between the groups in terms of gestational age (p = 0.067). Newborn birth weight was significantly higher in the adult group (p = 0.000). Cesarean section rates are higher in the adult group (p = 0.001). No difference is found in terms of stillbirth rates. No difference is found between the groups in terms of pre-eclampsia (p = 0.792). No difference is found between the groups in terms of preterm birth (p = 0.664).

In conclusion, it came out that, according to the results of the study, the rates of premature birth, pre-eclampsia, and stillbirth in adolescents and the first and fifth-minute Apgar scores are similar to adults. However, newborn birth weights are lower in the babies of adolescent pregnant women. In addition, cesarean section rates are higher in the adult group.