Perinatal outcomes and risk factors of Turkish adolescent mothers.
OBJECTIVE
Adolescent pregnancy is considered a high risk for both the mother and infant. The aim of this study was to determine obstetric and neonatal outcomes and risk factors in adolescent pregnant women and to compare perinatal outcomes among the teen age groups and between adolescent and adult women.


METHODS
Retrospective study including adolescent pregnant women and adult women.


METHODS
A public maternal hospital.


METHODS
This retrospective cohort study included 945 teenagers who gave birth at year 2004 in a maternity hospital in Izmir. Dependent variables included perinatal and maternal outcomes. Independent variables were miscellanous socio-demographic characteristics and obstetric complications. Chi-square, Fisher exact test, and t-tests were used for the comparison of the adolescent group and adult women.


RESULTS
Overall, adolescents accounted for 11.8% of all deliveries in hospital. 99.7% of teenagers were unemployed, and 59.8% of those had no health insurance. 81.5% of the pregnant adolescents were nulliparous. 27.5% of teenagers gave birth by cesarean delivery. The rates of preterm birth and low birthweight of teen mothers were 18.2% and 12.1%, respectively. Twenty-eight percent of women had some obstetric and neonatal complications. The rate of preterm delivery was higher in adolescent mothers; however, cesarean delivery rate was higher in adult women (P = 0.000, P = 0.0002 respectively). Absence of health insurance, less education, and non-official marriage were significantly higher in pregnant women aged 17 years or younger compared with women aged 18-19 years (for all, P = 0.000). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the adolescent age groups regarding perinatal complications.


CONCLUSIONS
The rates of pregnancy and the rates of adverse obstetric and neonatal outcomes were considerably higher in teenagers.
Keskinoglu
Pembe
P
Dokuz Eylul University, School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Izmir, Turkey. pembekeskin@yahoo.com
Bilgic
Nurcan
N
Picakciefe
Metin
M
Giray
Hatice
H
Karakus
Nuriye
N
Gunay
Turkan
T
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006771:Hospitals, Maternity; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008499:Medical Records; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology