European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: To date, there are still 242 districts in Indonesia which remain
endemic for malaria, mostly in the eastern region of the country. East Nusa
Tenggara Province is one of the regions with the highest Annual Parasite
Incidence (API) per 1,000 population, with none of the districts or cities being
able to achieve malaria elimination even once. Hence, most of the pregnant
women who live in the Asia-Pacific countries are at risk of Plasmodium vivax
infection. There is also a notion that malaria infection could increase the risk of
miscarriage. Therefore, we aimed to assess the risk factors of miscarriage in the
malaria-endemic regions in Eastern Indonesia.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted using data from the previous
malaria study in East Nusa Tenggara. This study included 37 respondents with
a history of miscarriage and 74 control subjects matched by age (±5 years) and
sub-district. We assessed the correlation of socioeconomic status, malaria,
anemia, body mass index, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)
deficiency with miscarriage. Data were analyzed using bivariate and
multivariate analysis with p-value <0.05 indicates that the variable has a
significant effect.
Results: A total of 111 women were included in this study with 37 respondents
being the case group and 74 being the control group. The risk of developing
miscarriage increased in lower socioeconomic status (OR 1.05; 95% CI: 0.45-
2.44), in malaria-positive (OR 1.40; 95% CI: 0.60-3.26), in the presence of
anemia (OR 1.90; 95% CI: 0.82-4.45), and in abnormal BMI (OR 1.08; 95%
CI: 0.47-2.46).