Perinatal Mortality and Associated Obstetric Risk Factors in Urban Delta State, Nigeria; Rural-Urban Differences (Published)
The Perinatal Mortality which is the number of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths per 1000 deliveries was discussed in this paper, with associated obstetric risk factors of which twenty seven risk factors were considered. Simple descriptive analysis, Independent t-tests, Time series analysis and Logistic Regression techniques was applied on a 10 year study from which 9018 deliveries resulting in 344 perinatal death were obtained. Perinatal Mortality Rate (PNMR), Still Birth Rate (SBR) and, Early Neonatal Death Rate (ENDR) were 38.15/1000, 26.17/1000, 11.98/1000 deliveries respectively. A linear trend in Perinatal Mortality given as ŷt = 91.1973 + 8.15788*t was obtained. The null hypothesis of no significant difference between Perinatal mortality in the urban region and Perinatal mortality in the rural region of Delta State was rejected at 5% alpha level (t(18) = -4.336, p-value = 0.000). Ante partum Hemorrhage, Hypertensive Disorders, Abruptio Placentae, e.t.c. were found significantly causing 22.45%, 22.67%, 21.5%, of perinatal death cases in the state respectively. Hence these factors were considered the major risk factors associated with Perinatal Mortality in Urban Delta Sate Nigeria. Also, the logistic regression model adequately fits the data at 5% alpha level (Hosmer and Lemeshow test ; χ2 = 19.9190, p-value = 0.1463) and the significant risk factors as a group were related to the likelihood of Perinatal Mortality in Urban Delta Sate (Omnibus test of model coefficient; χ2 = 566.271, p-value = 0.000). For every unit increase in Ante Partum Hemorrhage, the odds of perinatal death occurring increases by 3.001 when all other variables are controlled
Keywords: Early Neonatal Deaths, Obstetric Risks, Odds ratio, Perinatal Mortality, Still Births