Prospective cohort study of adverse pregnancy outcomes in extremely young maternal age

Abstract

© 2018, Medical Association of Thailand. All rights reserved. Objective: To study the adverse outcome in pregnant women age 16 years or younger. Materials and Methods: The study design was a prospective cohort study. The patients age 16 years or younger and 20 to 29 years who came to antenatal care between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2016, were enrolled in the present study. The patient data including demographic, hospital course, maternal laboratory investigations, maternal complications, placental complications, and neonatal outcomes were recorded. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 14 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). The Chi-square test and analysis of variance were used to compare categorical variables and continuous variables, respectively, between the two groups. Results were reported as number, percentage, or mean and standard deviation. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Anemia, obstetric complications including hypertension, pulmonary disease, and gestational diabetes mellitus [GDM] were different with statistical significance between the two groups of pregnant women. Venereal diseases were high in young maternal age group while hepatitis B carriers were low in this group. Maternal education, occupation, maternal income, and knowledge of birth control methods for pills and DMPA were also different with statistical significance between the two groups. Conclusion: Pregnancy among the extremely young age entails greater risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes for both mothers and neonates. Health care providers should adjust their prenatal care for young pregnant women with multidisciplinary teams.