Associated risk factors of placenta previa a matched case control study

Aim: to find out the factors associated with placenta previa and their contribution in causing placenta previa. methods: a matched case control study was conducted in obstetrics & gynecology department of jinnah hospital,lahore and completed in gulab devi hospital,lahore. the patients who presented in the hospital with vaginal bleeding and diagnosed as having placenta previa through ultrasound were included in this study. with respect to these cases (patients of placenta previa) 60 females that were not having placenta previa were selected as a control. in addition to collecting the basic demographic details questions were asked about the medical history,gynecological history and obstetrics history in order to confirm the presence or absence of related risk factor. all information was recorded on a predefined questionnaire. for the analysis of data,spss version 16.00 was used. mean of both case and control groups were compared on the basis of different variables. chi square test was used for qualitative data. p-value < 0.05 was taken as significant. results: factors that were found significantly associated with placenta previa included maternal age > 35 years (0.020),history of cesarean section (0.03),history of miscarriage (0.001),previous history of placenta previa (0.000),history of dilatation and curettage (0.000) and history of evacuation of rpocs (0.001) as their p-values were < 0.05 (significant). risk factor contributing the most for having placenta previa was any previous history of placenta previa (or=19) followed by history of evacuation of rpocs (or=6.3),miscarriages (or=5),old maternal age (or=4),history of d & c (or=3.4) and previous cesarean section (or=2.8). conclusion: this study showed that old maternal age,history of placenta previa,previous cesarean section,history of dilatation and curettage and evacuation of rpocs and miscarriages were the factors significantly associated with placenta previa. these risk factors should be screened antecedently so as to minimize the prevalence and to avoid disastrous effects of placenta previa.