Risks of Selected Fetal Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes at Advance Maternal Age

Abstract

Background and Aim: Advanced maternal age pregnancy could be referred to as pregnancy after 35 years or older. The prevalence of postponing pregnancies is increasing day by day worldwide. However, limited evidence was found on advanced maternal age pregnancy association with fetal adverse outcomes. The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of advanced maternal age selected fetal adverse pregnancy outcomes. Place and Duration: Obstetrics & Gynaecology department of Alkhidmat Hospital Kohat and Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex, Nowshera for duration of six months from November 2020 to April 2021. Materials and Methods: This single-centered retrospective study was conducted on 220 postpartum women in the study group (≥35 years) and 170 control group postpartum women (20-34 years) who delivered at Obstetrics & Gynaecology department of Alkhidmat Hospital Kohat and Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex, Nowshera after 28 gestational weeks. Individuals who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled and sampled based on randomized control sampling technique for both control and study groups. Data extraction checklist and pretested questionnaire were used for data collection from the maternal charts. Adverse pregnancy outcome and advanced maternal age was correlated adjusted relative risks and strength with a 95% confidence interval. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis and considered p-value >0.05 as a statistical standard. Results: The adverse neonatal outcomes include low birth weight, preterm birth, and stillbirth with a prevalence 38 (17.4%), 46 (20.8%), and 31 (14.2%) respectively in the study group. In the control group, the incidence of low birth weight, preterm birth, and stillbirth was 21 (12.6%), 15 (14.6%) and 6 (3.5%) respectively. The stillbirth (ARR=3.16 95% CI (1.29–6.03) and preterm deliveries (ARR=2.71 95% CI (1.79–3.86) risk had significantly higher prevalence compared to control group advanced age pregnancy. Insignificance association was found between low birth weight and advanced maternal age. Conclusion: Stillbirth and preterm birth was the adverse fetal outcome significantly related with advanced maternal age pregnancy. There was no significant association between low birth weight and advanced maternal age. Keywords: Maternal age, Fetal Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes