Selected non-somatic risk factors for pregnancy loss in patients with abnormal early pregnancy

Abstract

Introduction and objective Spontaneous abortion constitutes one of the most frequent complication of human pregnancy. Despite intensive research efforts undertaken to date, the etiopathogenesis of early pregnancy loss has not been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to analyze the role of selected non-somatic risk factors for early pregnancy loss in patients with various clinical manifestations of spontaneous abortion. Material and Methods The study included 242 women hospitalized between 2001 and 2004 in the 3rd Chair and Department of Gynecology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland (Teaching Hospital No.4) with various clinical categories of spontaneous abortion. Each patient completed a questionnaire assessing her exposure to the examined factors. In patients with threatened abortion dismissed from the hospital with viable gestation, the course of pregnancy was followed-up using questionnaire data and medical records. Results In the studied population of women with abnormal early pregnancy course, a significant impact on the risk of miscarriage was observed in case of such factors as: exposure to stress at home and limited number of hours of nightly sleep. Factors such as occupational hazards, diet, stress, heavy housework and use of cigarettes or alcohol did not exert a significant effect on the risk of miscarriage in the studied population. Conclusions The results of this study confirm the complexity of the early pregnancy loss etiopatogenesis. Further research need to be conducted in order to identify the non-somatic causative agents of various clinical forms of miscarriage. It may help do select women in reproductive age at high risk of early pregnancy loss and show the ways in which effective preventive measures can be introduced in such population.

Keywords

• spontaneous abortion
• Threatened abortion
• pregnancy loss
• risk factors