MATERNAL OBESITY AND FETAL DEATHS: A BRAZILIAN CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Obesity is associated to negative outcomes for both mother and fetus. In this context we estimated the association between maternal obesity and the occurrence of fetal deaths in a representative sample of the Brazilian reproductive age women.
METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional study based on secondary data from the last Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 2006. We studied 5760 women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years old) who participated in the survey. Maternal obesity was defined when body mass index (BMI) was ≥ 30 kg/m2 and waist circunference (WC) ≥ 88cm. We also evaluated the Waist-to-Height-Ratio (WHR). Fetal death was considered when the women declared its ocurrence after 20 weeks of gestation. Data was analyzed by using Stata 12.0 and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between maternal obesity and the occurrence of fetal deaths.
RESULTS:
Prevalence of fetal deaths were 11.4%. Each increase of BMI, WC and WHR also increased aproximately 6, 3 and 65% of chance of fetal death. These associations remained significant after adjusting for maternal age, parity, skincolor, household income, maternal education and smoking status. Moreover, abdominal obesity (WC ≥ 88 cm) was positively associated with fetal deaths (OR = 2.91, 95%CI: 1.32-6.44).
CONCLUSIONS:
These results show a significant association between maternal obesity and the ocurrence of fetal deaths among Brazilian women of reproductive age.