Determinants of ectopic pregnancy

Abstract

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is a pregnancy in which the implantation of the embryo occurs outside the uterine cavity. It is the leading cause of maternal death during the first trimester of pregnancy. A better understanding of its risk can help prevent its incidence. This case-control study was carried out to evaluate the risk factors for ectopic pregnancy in Nekemte Referral Hospital, Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to identify the determinants of ectopic pregnancy among pregnant women who were managed in Nekemte Referral Hospital, 2015. The design was hospital based unmatched case control study. Detailed reviews of patient record were made by using structured check list all required information have been collected 99 cases with ectopic pregnancy were taken as a whole whereas 200 controls have been selected with simple random sampling method. Data was entered and cleaned using Epi Info version 7 then exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bi-variable analysis was executed then all explanatory variables with p-value of < 0.25 were entered into multivariable logistic regression. Determinant factors have been identified based on p-value of 0.05 and AOR with 95% CI. From January 2010 to December 2013, there were 99 cases of ectopic pregnancy in Nekemte Referral Hospital. The average (± SD) of patient's age was 27 (± 5) years. The risk factors identified were marital status and history of contraception use. Accordingly, women with single marital status were 10.81 times (95% CI AOR (3.601, 32.465)) more likely to develop ectopic pregnancy than married ones. Those who used contraception were 2.27 times (95% CI, AOR (0.214, 24.02)) more likely to develop ectopic pregnancy than who did not use contraception.