Open AccessFamily planning in Argentinian women with multiple sclerosis: An important yet seldom approached issue
Author(s) -
Ricardo Alonso,
Liliana Patrucco,
Berenice Silva,
Cecilia Quarracino,
María Bárbara Eizaguirre,
Cárlos Vrech,
Pablo A. López,
Edgar Carnero Contentti,
Norma Deri,
Adriana Carrá,
Aníbal Chercorff,
Verónica Tkachuk,
María Eugenia Balbuena,
Juan Pablo Pettinicchi,
Darío Tavolini,
Andrés Barboza,
Juan Ignacio Rojas,
Edgardo Cristiano,
Luciana Lázaro,
Orlando Garcea,
Nora Fernández Liguori
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
multiple sclerosis journal, experimental, translational and clinical
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2055-2173
DOI - 10.1177/20552173211025312
Subject(s) - pregnancy , medicine , multivariate analysis , multiple sclerosis , family planning , obstetrics , family history , young adult , demography , family medicine , gynecology , population , environmental health , psychiatry , genetics , sociology , research methodology , biology
Background The purpose of this study was to assess family planning (FP) among women with multiple sclerosis (WwMS).Methods We invited 604 WwMS to answer a survey focused on FP: a) Temporal relationship between pregnancy and the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis; b) History of FP; c) Childbearing desire; d) Information on family planning. Comparisons between pregnancy and not pregnancy after MS, as well as, planned and unplanned pregnancy were analyzed. Multivariate and univariate analyses were used to assess the impact of independent variables and FPResult 428 (71.7%) WwMS completed the survey. A 19.1% got pregnant after MS diagnosis and we evaluated FP in the last pregnancy, 56.1% patients had a planned pregnancy. Professional addressing FP (OR = 0.27, 95%-CI 0.08-0.92, p = 0.03) and non-injection drug treatment before pregnancy (OR = 2.88, 95%-CI 1.01-8.21, p = 0.047) were independent predictors of unplanned pregnancy in our multivariate model. Among WwMS ≤ 40 years, 48.7% had future childbearing desire. Young age (p < 0.001), PDDS <3 (p = 0.018), disease duration <5 years (p = 0.02), not childbearing before MS diagnosis (p < 0.001) and neurologist addressing family planning (p = 0.01) were significantly associated with childbearing desire.Conclusions This research highlights that pregnancy remains an important concern among WwMS.