A case-control study of risk factors for maternal mortality in Burkina Faso in 2014.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors associated with maternal mortality in hospitals in Burkina Faso in the context of emergency obstetric neonatal care.

METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in 812 health facilities in the public and private sectors, involving all categories of health facility in the 13 regions of Burkina Faso. The study population included all women with obstetric complications from May 2013 to April 2014. For any identified case of maternal death, a control counterpart (living woman) was matched according to the obstetric complication. Conditional logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with maternal mortality.

RESULTS: The analysis focused on a total of 1128 women (564 cases and 564 controls). Place of residence (P=0.011), the referral for care (P<0.001), maternal age (P<0.001), state of consciousness of the mother (P<0.001), and the presence of a fever (P<0.001) were significantly associated with the occurrence of maternal death. In multivariate analysis, maternal age (OR 1.45; 95% CI, 0.95-2.20; P<0.001), coma (OR 1.44; 95% CI, 0.16-0.2; P=0.010), and presence of fever (OR 1.67; 95% CI, 1.21-2.28; P<0.001) were risk factors related to maternal death.

CONCLUSION: The determined factors demonstrate that the survival of women is closely linked to their health.