Objective: Preterm labor is one of the common causes of prenatal morbidity and mortality. With considering the importance of preterm labor and lack of sufficient studies about the relationship between preterm labor and some factors such as cigarette smoking and opiate-using, the present study was designed.
Methods: We performed this descriptive-analytic study on 988 pregnant women referring to the Delivery Ward of Afzalipour Hospital, Kerman, Iran from February 2005 to September 2006. We analyzed the data using t-test and Chi-square test.
Results: From 988 subjects, 39.4% had preterm labor and 60.6% had term delivery. There was no significant difference between preterm and term groups in regard to their mean age (26.7 +/- 5.6 and 26.5 +/- 5.7 years), job, gravidity, educational level, abortion history, and periodontal or urinary infection (p>0.05). In preterm group, the rate of previous history of preterm labor (56%) and family history of preterm labor (88%) were significantly more in comparison to term delivery (p<0.1 and p<0.001). In women with a cigarette smoker husband, the rates of preterm labor was 44,6% and term labor was 55.4%, while in the case of both couples being cigarette smoker the rate of preterm labor was 69.2% and term labor was 31.9% (p<0.0001). In couples that were cigarette smoker and substance consumer, the rate of preterm was 77.4% and term labor was 22.6% (p<0.0001).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that women with personal and family history of preterm labor and women cigarette smokers and opiate-using should be considered as a major risk for preterm labor.