title: Adolescent pregnancy outcomes and risk factors in Malaysia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the outcomes and risk factors of adolescent pregnancies in 2 major hospitals in Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a case-control study of pregnant girls aged 10 through 19 years. The controls were women aged 20 through 35 years who did not become pregnant in their adolescence. Cases and controls were matched for parity and place of delivery. Data were collected from questionnaires and the hospitals' medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study included 102 cases and 102 controls. There were significant associations between adolescent pregnancy and low education level, low socioeconomic status, being raised by a single parent, not engaging in extracurricular school activities, engaging in unsupervised activities with peers after school, and substance abuse (P<0.05 for all); being anemic, being unsure of the expected delivery date, and having few antenatal visits and a late delivery booking; and low Apgar scores and perinatal complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescent pregnancies are high-risk pregnancies. Better sexual health strategies are required to address the associated complications.
authors.affiliation: Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. khairanio@gmail.com
authors.forename: Khairani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Omar
authors.forename: Suriati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasim
authors.forename: Noor Azimah
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Muhammad
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jaffar
authors.forename: Syahnaz Mohd
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.forename: Harlina Halizah
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Siraj
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D012736:Sex Education; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult