Fovilia Dewi¹, Djaswadi Dasuki²

¹Field Epidemiology Training Program, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

²Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

*Corresponding Author: Fovilia Dewi, e-mail: foviliadewi@gmail.com, phone: +62 85261371412

Background: A study in 2013 observed an increase rate of marriage delay in Indonesia and thus will result in advancing maternal age during pregnancy. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal age and risk of recurrent miscarriage (RM) in Indonesia.

Materials and methods: Unmatched case control study was performed using Indonesian Family Life Survey (1993 – 2014) data. The exposure variables were maternal age, paternal age, menarcheal age, body mass index, sex of the firstborn child, and smoking status.

Results: Two hundred and fifty one cases were compared to 1.004 controls. Adjusted by body mass index and compared to women aged 20 – 29, the risk of RM were increased for women aged 30 – 34 (OR 1.68; 95% CI 1.0 – 2.7), women aged 35 – 39 (OR 2.79; 95% CI 1.7 – 4.4), and women aged >40 (OR 4.91; 95% CI 3.0 – 7.9). Menarcheal age and sex of the firstborn child were not associated with RM. In multivariate analysis, the effects of paternal age and smoking status ceased while the effect of body mass index persisted (adjusted OR 1.67; 95% CI 1.3-2.3).

Conclusions: Advanced maternal age and body mass index were risk factors for RM.

Keywords: recurrent miscarriage, Indonesia, maternal age, body mass index