Abeera Mazhar Siddiqui, Amina Khalid, Syeda Amani Fatima, Sohaib Mazhar Siddiqui, Muzna Mazhar Siddiqui.
Frequency and Related Health Problems of Adolescent Pregnancy among Rural Families in Pakistan.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;12(1):138-41.

Background: Rate of adolescent marriages in developing countries alarmingly high and it leads to poor maternal and fetal health. Aim : To find the frequency of adolescent pregnancy in a rural area of Pakistan and also to see the health problems associated with this age of pregnancy. Method : Randomized study was carried out on 100 pregnant women with age range 16-20 years during a period of September 2017 to October 2017 with gestation week of 20-36 weeks. Enrollment was by physician referral, self-referral or via participation in registries. Recruited women contacted with the study planner for information and screening. Women with age 16-20 years were considered as adolescent (group 1) and women with age 21-30 (group 2) were considered as control group. Results: It is observed that mean age, age at marriage and age at first baby of group 1 was less than that of group 2 and it showed a highly significant difference (P<0.001).Frequency and percentages of demographic characteristics of group 1 and group 2 showed that adolescent were markedly low body weight than women belong to control group. Only 42% adolescent used iron and calcium as supplement, whereas 62% women belong to control were using iron and calcium supplement. Poor socioeconomic class was quite similar in both groups. History of abortion /hypertension was also noted . Conclusion: Study concluded that the frequency of adolescent pregnancy in a rural area of Pakistan is still high and The health problems associated with this age of pregnancy are malnutrition, underweight, lack of iron and calcium supplements.

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