The prevalence of certainty of gestational age (certain and uncertain) and its associated factors among mothers admitted for delivery at Jimma Medical Center, South West Ethiopia, 2019

Abstract

Background: The proper management of every pregnancy is largely dependent on accurate estimation of gestational age (GA) which every clinician face in their daily practice. In developing countries where ultrasound is not widely available, the establishment of GA mainly depends on the calculation of LNMP though many studies have proven its unreliability. This study aimed at comparing the magnitude of certainty of GA and its association with pregnancy outcome among pregnant mothers admitted to Jimma Medical Center (JMC) for delivery from March 1/2019 to May 31/2019. Methods: Hospital based cross sectional comparative study was conducted among pregnant mothers admitted to JMC for delivery. Using a systematic random sampling technique a totals of 418 samples were selected. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and entered into Epidata version 4.31 and finally exported to SPSS version 20 for further analysis. Cross tabs and logistic regression was applied to determine the association of variables with outcome variable with specific AOR, 95% CI and p-value less than 0.05 statistically significant. The result of the study was presented by using tables, charts and narration. Results: The general mean age was 25.67±5.01 that ranges from 14-40 years and there was no mean difference of age between groups. About 218 (52.2%) of the study subjects were living in urban area while the rest 200 (47.8%) were from rural. The proportion of uncertain gestation was 64.1% while the remaining 35.9% belongs to certain GA. Unknown LNMP was a major contributory factor (86.9%). The other responsible factor for uncertain GA was contraceptive use (34.7%), irregular cycle (19%), prolonged cycle (2.2%), lactational amenorrhea (2.2%) and early pregnancy bleeding (2.2%). The factors associated with uncertain GA were educational status (no formal education), time of U/S scanning (not done) and mode of delivery (emergency C/S) with specific AOR, 95% CI of 3.24 (0.96-10.73) p-value 0.04; 5.86 (1.05-34.43) p-value 0.04; and 2.65 (1.41-4.95) p-values 0.00 respectively. Conclusion and recommendation: uncertain gestation has a strong association with adverse pregnancy outcome. Thus, health education is recommended by different means of communication about the significance of this problem and its solution.