The corrected perinatal mortality rate. A hospital-based study in Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the corrected perinatal mortality rate (PMR) in a single tertiary care center, and to test the effect of unbooked pregnancies on the PMR,    and amalgamate the 2 to develop a new terminology known as the extended corrected PMR.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all women who delivered at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 2000 and December 2010. We recorded all cases of perinatal death and calculated the PMR per annum. The PMR was corrected for extreme prematurity and congenital anomalies. The unbooked cases were reported, and the PMR was further corrected for booking status. For statistical analyses, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for descriptive analysis and tests of significance.


RESULTS
The total number of births was 46,677. Seven hundred and seventy-one perinatal deaths were reported, giving a PMR of 16.5 per 1000 per year. The corrected perinatal mortality was 11.0 per 1000. The PMR decreased significantly to 6.4 per 1000 (odds ratio 2.6, 95% confidence interval 1.2-2.4, p=0.001) after correction for booking status.


CONCLUSIONS
The PMR in our study population is higher than those in developed countries, and when corrected for congenital anomalies and extreme prematurity, it is marginally higher. It was then considerably reduced after correction for booking status.
Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80215, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. bondagji_nabeel@hotmail.com
Nabeel S
NS
Bondagji
Eman M
EM
Kasim
D000328:Adult; D001723:Birth Rate; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008423:Maternal Age; D054238:Perinatal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000592:standards; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D050497:Stillbirth / Q000453:epidemiology