Association of chronic medical conditions with preterm labor

BACKGROUND: Prematurity is the most common cause of neonatal death and according to Millennium Development Goal (MDG), two-thirds of all under-five deaths should be reduced by 2015. Therefore, this study examined factors related to preterm birth in Sanandaj, Iran in 2012. METHODS: This case-control study has been conducted on 600 pregnant women; cases were 200 women with preterm labor and controls were 400 women with term labor, in Be'sat Hospital, Sanandaj, Iran, in 2012. Results were analyzed by Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and logistic regression tests. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, overt diabetes (P = 0.030), chronic hypertension (P < 0.001), preeclampsia and eclampsia (P < 0.001), had significant correlations with preterm labor. However, multivariate analysis results showed that factors like preeclampsia and eclampsia (P < 0.001) and chronic hypertension (P = 0.030) had significant correlation with the incidence of premature birth. In univariate and multivariate analysis, anemia (P = 0.340) had not any association with the preterm labor. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed some chronic maternal conditions such as chronic hypertension and diabetes mellitus, which are important pre-existing medical disorder complicating pregnancy and control of blood pressure and blood sugar before pregnancy, and have an important effect in decreased of preterm labor and complications. But others such as mother's anemia were not responsible for the prematurity.