Maternal Risk Factors and Outcome of Pregnancy in a Teaching Hospital in Riyadh

Abstract

reviewed to investigate the association between various risk factors and pregnancy outcome. The study population was divided into two groups, a poor outcome group (group 1, n=249) and a good outcome group (group 2, n=926). The frequency of each of 29 variables in each group was obtained, and the significance of the difference was calculated using contingency table tests. Odds ratios and their 95% confidence limits were calculated for the 18 variables that were found to be significantly associated with poor pregnancy outcome. Some well-known risk factors in pregnancy, such as young maternal age, interval between pregnancies, previous infertility, previous large baby, previous uterine surgery, bleeding in early pregnancy, anemia, and post-datism, were not found to be significantly associated with a poor outcome. The findings in this study emphasize the fact that high-risk factors are not necessarily universally applicable. Few physicians would take issue with the importance of early recognition of high-risk pregnancy. Multiple factors are usually responsible for the overall outcome of pregnancy. The list of presumed or proved risk factors is quite long. The weight given to any individual risk factor varies with the geographic area, 1 ethnic group, and/or race.2,3 The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between various risk factors and the outcome of pregnancy in a group of pregnant women in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and MethodsThe 1175 deliveries occurring at King Khalid University Hospital from January 1983 through December 1984 provide the population for this study. Clinical details were coded from the hospital charts and entered into a microcomputer. Sixty-seven percent of the mothers were Saudi nationals, and 33% non-Saudis. Low-birth-weight rate was 8.2%. Preterm delivery rate was 6%. Sixteen perinatal deaths occurred in the study population. Eight percent of the mothers were 35 years of age or older and 12% were para 5 or more. About 4% of the patients had no prenatal care. No maternal deaths were recorded. During the 24-month study period, 62 mothers (5%) delivered twice. The unit of analysis was deliveries and not mothers.