Prevalence of Physical Disorders during Pregnancy in Turkey: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of physical disorders, and to examine hospitalization rates and the causes of hospitalization during the period of pregnancy, basing our conclusions on observational studies carried out in Turkey. Methods: This is a systematic review and meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies. The literature search for the study was performed in April 2021 on the PubMed, EBSCO, OVID, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Clinics of Turkey-Turkey Reference Series, TR Series and Higher Council of Education-National Thesis Centre electronic data bases. Results: Nineteen articles were included in this meta-analysis, amounting to a total volume of 159,022 samples. The studies contained data on 14 different physical health problems that developed during pregnancy. Based on the data, we observed that authors of the meta-analyses estimated a prevalence of 16% for urinary infection, 10% for preterm labour, 7.8% for gestational diabetes, 8.7% for premature rupture of membranes, 4% for hyperemesis gravidarum, 2.8% for preeclampsia, 2.7% for gestational hypertension, 0.3% for HELLP syndrome, 0.1% for eclampsia, 6.6% for threat of miscarriage, 3.8% for miscarriage, 1.2% for a history of bleeding in the third trimester, 0.4% for placental abruption, and 0.3% for placenta previa. None of the studies contained any report on hospitalization rates and the causes of hospitalization during pregnancy. Conclusion: We obtained results in this systematic review that pointed to evidence that some preventable physical disorders and some that would necessitate hospitalization during pregnancy were prevalent, but no data on hospitalization rates and the causes of hospitalization could be reached.