Abstract

GIACOMIN-CARMIOL, Loretta; LEAL-MATEOS, Manrique  and  MOYA-SIBAJA, Rafael Ángel. Maternal Anemia During the Third Trimester of Pregnancy as a Risk Factor for Preterm Labor. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2009, vol.51, n.1, pp.39-43. ISSN 0001-6002.

Objective: To explore the relationship between anemia and preterm birth at the Obstetrics Service of the Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Hospital during the year 2006. Methods: A Case and Control study was made obtaining the sample from the statistical base of the Labor and Delivery Ward. There were 110 cases and 220 controls.Inclusion criteria were: age between 18 and 35 years, first pregnancy, pregnancy of more than 32 weeks, single pregnancy and live born. Exclusion criteria were: pregnancy complicated by a chronic medical illness or acquired during pregnancy, history of vaginal bleeding during pregnancy, history of urinary tract infection or of other system, alcohol or drug abuse, presence of fetal malformation, induced delivery or elective cesarean section, extrahospitalary delivery and absence or incomplete information. The patients from the control group were admitted to the hospital in the same period of time. Two controls were selected randomly, pared by quinquenal group of age and delivery date. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were the same as in the case group. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin less than 11 g/dl. The magnitude of the association between anemia and preterm birth was evaluated by the odds ratio. Results: The mean hemoglobin value of the cases was 12.3 g/dl (DS + 1.2) versus 12.9 g/dl (DS + 1.1) in the control group. The mean hematocrit of the cases was 36.2% (DS + 3.6) and 38.2% (DS + 3.1) (p < 0.001) in the control group. The percentage of patients with anemia in the control group was 10.9% (n=12) and 4.1% (n=9) in the control group (p< 0.016). The odds ratio showed a positive association between anemia and preterm birth (2.87; CI 95% 1.08-7.69). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated an association between anemia and preterm birth during the third trimester.

Keywords : Anemia; preterm birth; Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Hospital.

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