Regression model of risk factors for preterm labour

Abstract

Preterm labour is one of the most significant issues in the protection of maternal-child health. A case control study to evaluate risk factors for preterm labour in 1200 women was performed. 600 women who delivered prematurely and randomly selected group of 600 women who gave birth at term were questioned using a standardised questionnaire. Simple data and multiple forward stepwise regression analysis were performed to identify independent risk factors of preterm labour. During simple data analysis, 24 independent factors of preterm labour were determined using the χ2 test. Multiple forward stepwise regression model was used to carry out a multiple regression of these 24 factors influencing preterm labour. Obtained determination coefficient r2 = 0.66781 indicates that our regression model was very accurate. Regression coefficients were calculated for all factors and it was detected that the highest risk for preterm labour have women with unfavourable obstetrical history, i.e., women with a previous history of low birth weight, very young (≤17 years) or older than 30 years women, women exposed to emotional shock during the 22-28 week of gestation and women working in a standing position for long hours. Based on this analysis and in respect of these independent factors an equation was suggested which allows to evaluate mathematically risk for preterm labour and can be used in gynaecologists’ practice.