An Analysis of All Pregnancy Outcomes in a Rural Korean Community.
10.3349/ymj.1979.20.2.170
- Author:
Tai Keun PARK
1
Author Information
1. Department Preventive Medicine Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- MeSH:
Abortion, Induced;
Actuarial Analysis;
Adolescent;
Adult;
Birth Rate;
Female;
Fetal Death/epidemiology;
Human;
Korea;
Pregnancy*;
Prospective Studies;
Retrospective Studies;
Rural Population
- From:Yonsei Medical Journal
1979;20(2):170-183
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The purpose of this investigation was to provide an analysis of pregnancy outcomes among all married eligible women in a rural community. The target areas chosen were two townships on Kang Wha island. The study period lasted 24 months from April 1975 through March 1977. This paper presents the results of 1) a retrospective study 2) a prospective pregnancy followup study 3) a life table which provides the probabilities of pregnancy termination and estimated probabilities of fetal mortality. To obtain information on early pregnancies, all married eligible women were interviewed on their LMP at two months intervals. This enabled us to detect more pregnancies and fetal losses in earlier stages than would have been possible through customary reports from hospitals, registers of vital statistics and retrospective studies. All pregnancies reported in this study were identified through regular menstruation followup and subsequent confirmation of pregnancy in all cases where there was an amenorrhea for six weeks and more after the LMP using the pregnosticon test or other methods of pregnancy verification. All pregnancy terminations, losses to follow-up and continuing pregnancies at the end of the study period were then evaluated. Out of 1,106 pregnancies, 3l cases were lost to follow-up, 158 cases were pregnant at the end of the study period and 917 cases ended in deliveries during the study period. The estimates of the probability of normal pregnancy termination (pregnancy termination rates) are based on the number of terminations occurring in pregnancies exposed to termination risk during successive weeks of pregnancy. The pregnancy wastage rate turned out to be 23.6% in the retrospective study, 30.1% in the longitudinal study, and 34.5% in the life table. The estimated induced abortion rates were found to be negatively correlated with gestation period. The highest levels of induced abortion observed were 129 per 1,000 pregnancies under observation during the first 8 weeks of gestation and l47 induced abortions during the 9th-12th week of gestation. It could be shown by life table methodology that 87.1% of pregnancies continued beyond the 8th week and 72.7% beyond the l2th week. There after no remarkable change occured until the 37th-40th week, at the end of which period however, only 21.4% of the pregnancies continued. The life table technique allowed us to estimate that the cumulative rate of 1ive births from LMP to the end of pregnancy was 65.5%, induced abortion rate 29.5%, and stillbirth (including spontaneous abortion) rate was 5.0%. Also it appeared that, pregnancies which had continued throughout 8 weeks from LMP can be expected to continue on the average for 6.8 more months.
