A relação entre prematuridade em adolescentes e atenção básica de pré-natal na cidade de Pelotas -RS

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate premature delivery in adolescents of Pelotas. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted nested in a cohort of pregnant teenage women between the ages of 13 and 19 years old. Volunteers were selected from the Unified Health System (SUS) in Pelotas, RS – Brazil, from October 2009 to May 2010. After accepting invitations to participate in the study volunteers signed letters of free and informed consent. During three visits the instruments were applied and the data was collected. The data was processed with the Epi-info program. Analysis of the data was accomplished using the SPSS 21.0 and STATA 12.0 software with a confidence interval of 95%. Results: 650 patients were evaluated. The rate of prematurity was found to be 24.6% in the research sample. The variables associated with premature delivery (p ≤ 0.001) were: the number of prenatal care visits, previous premature delivery and the low birth weight. The multivariate analysis has demonstrate that pregnant women who had less than six prenatal care visits had a risk of premature delivery three times greater than those women who had gone to more than ten visits. Conclusion: Both teenage pregnancy and the number of prenatal care visits have been linked to a high rate of premature delivery and low birth weight.