Brith Sex Ratio and Pregnancy Outcomes After Bam Earthquake

Brith sex ratio could be affected by several factors such as stress due to natural disasters like earthquake. This study was performed to determine the sex ratio and the perinatal outcomes after Bam earthquake. This case-control study was designed in two sections for the evaluation of earthquake effects on brith sex ratio and the perinatal outcomes. The case group in both sections consisted of 301 live births born 9 months after the earthquake in Bam's maternity hospital. The control group consisted of all live births for the same period in the previous year in Bam. Regarding the perinatal outcome's evaluation, due to the destruction of documents in the hospital after the earthquack second, control group consisted of mached pregnancies of Afzalipoor Hospital in Kerman. The data were analysed by X2 and t- test. Birth sex-ratio increased after earthquake and the difference was significant (OR=1.31, p<0.001). There were no significant differences in low birth weight and Apgar score between the two groups, but the number of preterm delivery in the case group increased significantly (OR=2.96, p<0.014). Results of this study, unexpectedly, showed that sex-ratio after Bam earthquake has increased, and also earthquake had no effect on birth weight and Apgar score. Since Bam earthquake caused not only environmental, behavioral and social changes but also changes in the population, it seems that more investigations need to be conducted.