Preterm birth during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Araucanía Region, Chile
Abstract
Introduction: There is evidence that COVID-19 increases the risk of preterm birth. However, some population studies show a decrease in preterm birth rates in certain regions. The ob¬jective is to determine the incidence of preterm birth during the first year of the pandemic (2020) in the Araucanía Region, Chile, and compare it with the rates from 2015 to 2019.
Materials and Methods: An ecological time-series study analyzed data from the department of statis¬tics and health information (DEIS) and epidemiological reports of COVID-19 cases from MINSAL. Des¬criptive statistics, annual incidence, and bivariate analysis with STATA-16 software were conducted.
Results: Results showed that out of 71,373 deliveries, the overall preterm delivery rate was 8.25%. A significant increase of 4.37% in the preterm birth rate occurred in 2020 com¬pared to the previous year (p:0.000), as well as a significant increase in births <1500 grams (p:0.005). October 2020 had the highest rate of premature births (11.06%), coin¬ciding with the highest incidence of new SARS-CoV-2 cases (116.04 x 10,000 hab.).
Discussion: We observed a significant increase in premature births, particularly among extremely preterm infants and those born weighing less than 1500g, who experience the highest rates of perinatal, neonatal, and infant mortality and morbidity.
