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Clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of Syrian refugees: a case–control study in a tertiary care hospital in Istanbul, Turkey

  • Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes in women who are Syrian refugees and Turkish women who are non-refugees at a maternity center in Istanbul, Turkey.

Methods

A total of 600 singleton pregnancies who delivered at Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital were included in the study. Demographic data, obstetrical history, clinical findings, obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were compared between 300 Syrian refugees and 300 control patients.

Results

The Syrian refugee patients were significantly younger than Turkish patients. The percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years were significantly higher in the Syrian patients (14.3 vs. 5.3 %, p < 0,001). 41.3 % of the refugee patients had no antenatal care. However, this ratio was only 7.7 % for the control group (p < 0.001). Preterm birth rates showed no difference between the groups, however, postterm birth rates were significantly higher in the control group. Low Birthweight (<2500 gr), oligohydramnios, stillbirth and fetal anomaly rates were not different between the two groups.

Conclusions

In comparison to non-refugee control patients, refugee women in our study had poor antenatal care but no adverse perinatal outcomes were observed. Further larger multicenter studies may provide more convincing data about obstetric outcomes in the Syrian refugee population as well as adolescent pregnancies in this population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Halaskargazi caddesi, Etfal sokak, 34360, Sisli, Istanbul, Turkey

    Hakan Erenel, Begum Aydogan Mathyk, Isil Ayhan, Suat Karatas & Arzu Koc Bebek

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey

    Veysel Sal

Authors
  1. Hakan Erenel
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  2. Begum Aydogan Mathyk
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  3. Veysel Sal
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  4. Isil Ayhan
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  5. Suat Karatas
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  6. Arzu Koc Bebek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hakan Erenel.

Ethics declarations

For this type of study formal consent is not required.

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital (Approval No: 599).

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Erenel, H., Aydogan Mathyk, B., Sal, V. et al. Clinical characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of Syrian refugees: a case–control study in a tertiary care hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Arch Gynecol Obstet 295, 45–50 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4188-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-016-4188-5

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