Public Health/Global Health
Poster Session 4
Atar Ben- Shmuel, MD (she/her/hers)
Sunnybrook Health Science, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON, Canada
Howard Berger, MD
University of Toronto
Thornhill, ON, Canada
Elad Mei-Dan, MD
North York General Hospital
Toronto, ON, Canada
Nir Melamed, MD (he/him/his)
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Toronto, ON, Canada
Jon F. Barrett, MD, PhD
Chair
Sunnybrook Health Science, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON, Canada
Amir Aviram, MD (he/him/his)
Staff physician
Rabin Medical Center
Toronto, ON, Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the entire world, and numerous countries implemented various measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Challenging times characterized by heightened stress levels, limited access to healthcare resources, and strained healthcare systems might lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence of preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Study Design:
A population-based, provincial-level, retrospective study of all individuals who gave birth in hospitals in Ontario, Canada, during January-December 2020. The comparator group included all individuals who delivered between January 2017 and December 2019. The primary outcomes were preterm birth (PTB) < 37 weeks of gestation. Additionally, we analyzed several secondary maternal outcomes, including PTB at different gestational ages, preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, eclampsia, and perinatal morbidity. Secondary analysis was performed by geographical area (rural/urban), and annual quartiles.
Results: Overall, 116,244 births were included in the study group, and 363,650 in the control group. Delivery during the pandemic was not found to be associated with PTB. Yet, it was associated with a higher risk for neonatal morbidity (aRR 1.06, CI 1.04-1.08) and gestational diabetes (aOR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05-1.10), and a lower risk for preeclampsia and eclampsia (aRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.86-0.95 and RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.53- 0.87, respectively) (Table). Secondary analysis by quartiles and geographical distribution did not yield any significant standardized differences.
Conclusion: The COVID pandemic was not associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, but it was associated with an increase in neonatal morbidity and gestational diabetes.