PIH47 COMPARISON OF CAESAREAN SECTION RATES IN GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF WHO EUROPEAN REGION

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the caesarean section rates in geographical areas of WHO European Region. We selected indicator “HFA_596 Caesarean sections per 1000 live births” from WHO’s Health for All database to analyse the time period between 1990-2014. We compared countries of the WHO European Region: Nordic countries, Balkan countries, Eastern- and Western European countries (EE, WE) and Post-Soviet states. Independent samples T-test or Mann-Whitney test were used for years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2014. Data for Greece, Iceland, Montenegro, Portugal and Slovakia were not available. Average number of caesarean sections per 1,000 live births was 58.2 in the WHO European Region in 1990. This was 135.5 in Nordic countries, 79.2 in the Balkan region, 78.2 in EE, 104.8 in WE and 42.9 in Post-Soviet states. Average number of caesarean sections per 1,000 live births was 238.1 in the WHO European Region in 2014. This was 176.5 in Nordic countries, 319.5 in the Balkan region, 297.9 in EE, 249.3 in WE and 188.6 in Post-Soviet states. Our assessment showed that the increase was +30% in Nordic countries, +303% in the Balkan area, +281% in EE, +138% in WE and +340% in Post-Soviet states from 1990 to 2014. Significant differences were found between the Nordic and Balkan region in 2014 (p=0.042; 176.5; 319.5), and between EE and WE in 2000 (p=0.003; 115.6; 178.5). We found significant increase in the caesarean section rate in geographical areas of WHO European Region between 1990-2014. The highest increase was observed in Post-Soviet states (340 %) and Balkan countries (303 %).