Modifiable risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth in nulliparous women: a prospective study
-
Themistoklis Dagklis
,
Apostolos Mamopoulos
Abstract
Background
Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) has a detrimental impact on perinatal outcome, as well as on the resources of health systems in high-income countries. Thus, the objective of the current study was to determine the incidence of modifiable risk factors in pregnancy and their impact on the rate of sPTB.
Methods
All nulliparous pregnant women, in singleton pregnancies, with free medical and obstetric history, were eligible to participate in this study. The primary outcome of interest was the incidence of specific modifiable risk factors for sPTB. The correlations between these risk factors and sPTB were also investigated.
Results
Overall, 2027 women were eligible for the study and agreed to participate. The incidence of sPTB was 4.9%; 25.5% (n = 518) of the participants were in extreme maternal age (<20 or >35 years), 34.5% (n = 701) had an abnormal body mass index (BMI) (<18.5 or ≥25 kg/m2), 4.4% (n = 89) reported use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and 10.9% (n = 220) reported themselves as smokers in pregnancy. In the multivariate analysis, sPTB was significantly correlated with ART conception [odds ratio (OR): 2.494, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.196–5.199].
Conclusion
Approximately one in 20 primiparous pregnant women in the study had a sPTB. The study population included a high percentage of women of advanced maternal age, with abnormal BMI and smokers, but these characteristics did not affect the incidence of sPTB. On the other hand, conception following ART increased two-fold the risk of sPTB.
Author contributions: Apostolos Athanasiadis developed the original idea for the study and participated in the revision. Themistoklis Dagklis coordinated the recruitment, interviewed patients and recorded patient data. Ioannis Tsakiridis designed, coordinated and implemented the project, evaluated the results, and submitted the article. Apostolos Mamopoulos supervised the sample extraction and cooperated in the results’ analysis. Theodore Dardavessis participated in statistical analysis and also supervised the manuscript development. All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Variations in long-term outcome reporting among offspring followed up after lifestyle interventions in pregnancy: a systematic review
- Corner of Academy
- Modifiable risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth in nulliparous women: a prospective study
- Additional benefits of three-dimensional ultrasound for prenatal assessment of twins
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Microbial burden and inflammasome activation in amniotic fluid of patients with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
- Amniotic fluid concentrations of soluble endoglin and endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 in pregnancies complicated with neural tube defects
- Maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of women with chronic hypertension: a population-based study
- Behavior of fetal longitudinal myocardial fibers assessed by speckle tracking to obtain strain and strain rate values for low-risk pregnancies
- The effect of a scheduled regimen of acetaminophen and ibuprofen on opioid use following cesarean delivery
- Original Articles – Fetus
- Comparison of cord blood lactate measurement by gas analyzer and portable electrochemical devices
- Perinatal mortality: epidemiological profile, causes and avoidable factors at a reference public maternity hospital in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2011–2015
- Original Articles – Newborns
- Maternal smoking and cannabis use during pregnancy and infant outcomes
- The utility of cranial ultrasound as a screening tool for neonatal ECMO
- Effects of human milk fortifier properties on intrinsic probiotic bacteria
- Letter to the Editor
- Superb microvascular imaging with Doppler luminance using an 18-MHz probe to visualize fetal intra-abdominal blood vessels and organ microvasculature
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Variations in long-term outcome reporting among offspring followed up after lifestyle interventions in pregnancy: a systematic review
- Corner of Academy
- Modifiable risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth in nulliparous women: a prospective study
- Additional benefits of three-dimensional ultrasound for prenatal assessment of twins
- Original Articles – Obstetrics
- Microbial burden and inflammasome activation in amniotic fluid of patients with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes
- Amniotic fluid concentrations of soluble endoglin and endothelial cell-specific molecule-1 in pregnancies complicated with neural tube defects
- Maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of women with chronic hypertension: a population-based study
- Behavior of fetal longitudinal myocardial fibers assessed by speckle tracking to obtain strain and strain rate values for low-risk pregnancies
- The effect of a scheduled regimen of acetaminophen and ibuprofen on opioid use following cesarean delivery
- Original Articles – Fetus
- Comparison of cord blood lactate measurement by gas analyzer and portable electrochemical devices
- Perinatal mortality: epidemiological profile, causes and avoidable factors at a reference public maternity hospital in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, 2011–2015
- Original Articles – Newborns
- Maternal smoking and cannabis use during pregnancy and infant outcomes
- The utility of cranial ultrasound as a screening tool for neonatal ECMO
- Effects of human milk fortifier properties on intrinsic probiotic bacteria
- Letter to the Editor
- Superb microvascular imaging with Doppler luminance using an 18-MHz probe to visualize fetal intra-abdominal blood vessels and organ microvasculature
