Premature Rupture Of Membrane and Its Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Admitted in Dire Dawa Hospitals, in Mid COVID-19 Pandemic in Ethiopia

Background: Premature rupture of membranes is the spontaneous leakage of amniotic fluid from the amniotic sac that occurs at least one hour before the onset of labor. It is a common complication of pregnancy that leads to neonatal and maternal morbidity and mortality. There is little evidence of the prevalence and associated factors among pregnant women admitted to the obstetrics ward in the study area.. Objective: To assess the prevalence and associated factors among pregnant women admitted to Dire Dawa hospitals in eastern Ethiopia. Method: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 17 to June 17, 2021. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 392 pregnant women admitted to an obstetric ward. Data was collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and checklist to obtain data from the medical record. Data was collected with Kobo tool software and exported to SPSS version 24. The crude odds ratio and the AOR with 95% CI were calculated to assess the association among variables and control the confounding factors. The level of significance was declared at a p-value < 0.05. Result: All 392 (100%) pregnant women were included in the study. The prevalence of PROM was found to be 22.4%. Pregnant women who had a history of previous preterm labor (AOR = 2.449, 95% CI: 1.422, 4.217), history of PROM (AOR = 2.663, 95% CI: 1.567, 4.526), history of anemia (AOR = 2.497, 95% CI: 1.371, 4.550), history of UTI (AOR = 2.715, 95% CI: 1.575, 4.679) and history of chewing khat (AOR = 1.936, 95% CI: 1.055, 3.552) were significantly associated with pre-labor rupture of membrane. Conclusion: The prevalence of pre-labor rupture of membranes in the study was high when compared to previous studies. An intervention that focuses on strengthening the integration of messages on health promotion and disease prevention, routine early screening, diagnosis and quick treatments of UTI and anemia, nutritional counseling, iron supplementation, and giving information regarding substance use during pregnancy should be recommended.