Background: Low birth weight is a major public health problem in Pakistan. So there is a need for identification of its modifiable risk factors like periodontitis which will reduce its burden on the society. The objectives of the study were to find out the association between maternal periodontitis and low birth weight in new-borns of all gestational ages delivered in a tertiary care hospital of Abbottabad as well as to see the frequency of periodontitis severity in these subjects.
Methods: A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted among 160 postpartum mothers in Gynaecology/Obstetrics- B ward Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad. The 80 cases were mothers of low birth weight babies (< 2,500 g), the 80 controls were mothers of normal weight babies (> 2,500 g) matched with maternal age and gestational age. Data was collected through the hospital records, interview and a periodontal examination.
Results: Periodontitis was more in the cases than in the controls (OR: 4.167, 95% CI: 2.142-8.109, p = 0.000). On multivariate logistic regression, periodontitis was found to be a significant independent risk factor for low birth weight (aOR: 3.173, 95% CI: 1.429-7.047, p = 0.005). Other significant risk factors were educational level (aOR: 3.408, 95% CI: 1.452-7.996, p = 0.005), socioeconomic status (aOR: 3.173, 95% CI: 1.366-7.368, p = 0.007), maternal nutrition (aOR: 3.071, 95% CI: 1.392-6.778, p = 0.005) and moderate/severe anaemia (aOR: 3.035, 95% CI: 1.052-8.756, p = 0.040).
Conclusions: Periodontitis is found to be a strong, independent, and clinically significant risk factor for low birth weight. So periodontal therapy should form a part of the antenatal care of the pregnant women in Abbottabad.