Association of preterm birth and periodontal disease in Bolivia, Chile and Colombia

Abstract

Introduction. Preterm birth (PTB) is a major medical, social, and economic problem that causes a large proportion of neonatal mortality and morbidity, has high impact on the health care system and affects the quality of life of families. Weight of newborns of mothers with periodontal disease (PD) is significantly lower compared to mothers not affected by this oral disease. This adverse outcome is considered a global public health problem based on epidemiological data results.
Objective. To determine the association between the prevalence of preterm births (PTB) and periodontal disease (PD) in Bolivia (B), Chile (Ch) and Colombia (Col) from 2000 to 2020.
Materials and methods. This ecological study considered the population of women in Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia, according to the prevalence of PTB and PD based on, discriminated according to age. The study covered the period between 2000 and 2020. The search strategy within the Institute for Evaluation and Metrics in Health’s investigative tool included prevalence, age groups, years between 2000 and 2020, causes, PTB and PD, context and locations, women and rate. Statistical analysis included a simple linear regression between PTB and PD for each age group within each country.
Results. PTB rates were higher in the 15-19 age group (B: 697,563, Ch: 844,864, Col: 804,126). The PD prevalence increased with age; 45-49 years (B: 22,077,854, Ch: 34,297,901, Col: 32,032.83). The linear regression, r2 with p<0.001, according to age groups was: 15-19 years (B: 0.977, Ch: 0.651); 20-24 (B: 0.959); 25-29 (B: 0.905); 30-34 (B: 0.897, Col: 0.305); 35-39 (B: 0.908, Col: 0.596); 40-44 (B: 0.870, Col: 0.673); 45-49: (B: 0.897, Col: 0.707).
Conclusion. An association was found between PTB and PD in all age groups in Bolivia, only in the group of 15 to 19 years in Chile, and 30 years and up in Colombia over the 20-year period.