Factors associated with preterm birth in an urban African environment: A case-control study at the University Teaching Hospital of Ouagadougou and Saint Camille Medical Center

Abstract

To study the risk factors associated with preterm delivery in two busy obstetrics centers in Ouagadougou. This prospective case-control study included 115 women with preterm deliveries and 230 control patients, or two controls per case, recruited from January through June 2011. The study took place in the maternity and neonatology departments of the University Hospital Center Yalgado-Ouédraogo (UHC-YO) and the Saint-Camille medical center, in the same city. Stillbirths were excluded from the study. Case infants were born at gestational ages ranging from 28 to 37 weeks. During the study period, the preterm delivery rate was 6.1%. Multivariate analysis with logistic regression enabled us to identify the factors associated with preterm delivery. These factors were: advanced maternal age (>30 years) (OR = 0.4 [0.2-0.8]), history of intentional abortions (OR = 3.3 [1.43-7.6], high stress (OR = 4.03 [2.14-3.39]), too few prenatal care visits (OR = 4.92 [3.03-8]), fever during pregnancy (OR = 1.59 [1.01-2.5]), premature rupture of membranes (OR = 3.72 [1.11-4.34]), urinary infections (OR = 2.55 [1.55-4.19]), and threatened preterm delivery (OR = 3.3 [1.43-7.6]). Preterm delivery is very frequent at both these Ouagadougou health care facilities. Many factors are associated with preterm birth, including social and demographic as well as clinical characteristics. The effort to reduce the rate of preterm births, which are associated with neonatal morbidity, must be strengthened by refocusing on prenatal consultations.