Risk factors associated with ectopic pregnancy in two maternity hospitals in Santiago de Cuba

Abstract

Introduction: Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of maternal mortality during the first trimester of pregnancy and there are multiple factors that increase the probability of having an ectopic pregnancy.

Objective: To determine the risk factors associated with ectopic pregnancy in two maternity hospitals in Santiago de Cuba.

Methods: An analytical, case-control observational descriptive study was carried out in patients operated on with a diagnosis of EE at the Materno Norte and Materno Sur hospitals, in Santiago de Cuba, in the period from January 2010 to December 2017, in a 1:3 ratio. The population was made up of the universe of pregnant women treated in the afore mentioned hospitals and the simple random probabilistic method was used to calculate the sample size. Patients with a diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy (211) confirmed by pathological anatomy were defined as cases. A control group of 633 patients with normal pregnancy was formed.

Results: The factors that had a significant causal association with ectopic pregnancy were the mother's age (OR 2.4 95% CI 1.7-3.3 X229.66 p < 0.001); the precocity of sexual intercourse (OR 4.2 95% CI 3.1-6.0 X278.74 p < 0.001); the number of sexual partners (OR 4.1 95% CI 2.9-5.8 X270.14 p < 0.001); pelvic inflammatory disease (OR 13.9 95% CI 9.5-20.2 X2234.92 p < 0.001) and previous ectopic pregnancy (OR 44.6 95% CI 13.6-146.5 X298.17 p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The identification of factors that had a significant causal association with EE allows for clinical thinking that favors early diagnosis.