Trends and outcomes of twin births in Southwest Nigeria: A 14-year retrospective cohort study

Background and objectives

The study aimed to analyze the prevalence, trends, and outcomes of twin pregnancies in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, over two distinct periods.

Materials and methods

This research, based on a 14-year retrospective cohort study, scrutinized twin births occurring in two-time frames: recent years (2012–2018; Period II) and the recent past (2005–2011; Period I) at a University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The inclusion criteria were limited to twin births, excluding singleton and higher-order gestations. Outcomes were evaluated based on several parameters, including mode of delivery, birth weights, fetal gender combinations, APGAR scores, perinatal mortality, and maternal complications. Data analysis was conducted using the 26^th version of Statistical Package for the Social Science, with a significance threshold of p < 0.05.

Results

The study documented a stable prevalence of twin gestations, registering at 20.7 per 1,000 births without a significant discrepancy between the two time periods (21.7‰ versus 19.7‰; p = 0.699). Individuals from the Yoruba tribe predominantly featured in both cohorts, showing no considerable variation between the two time periods [83 (95.4) vs. 120 (99.2); p-value = 0.116]). The data exhibited recurrent instances of caesarean delivery (65.6% vs. 50.2%, p = 0.119), vertex-vertex presentation (38.0% vs. 44.7%, p = 0.352), and differing sex combinations (33.3% vs. 38.0%, p = 0.722) across both time frames. Twin II neonates born through Caesarean section were more frequently admitted to neonatal intensive care units than Twin I (5.1% versus 4.6%; p = 0.001). The recent years witnessed a surge in preterm labor complications, notably higher than the earlier period (17.1% versus 7.8%; p = 0.008).

Conclusion

Contrary to the higher prevalence rate of 46.2 per 1,000 births reported in 2008 by Akinboro et al. during a 10-year study in the same region of Ile-Ife, our research delineates a considerably lower and fluctuating decrease in the general prevalence of twin births in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It is imperative to conduct large-scale, community-based, multicentric research in southwest Nigeria to substantiate this inferred trend of a declining twinning prevalence.

Full text:

https://www.xiahepublishing.com/2472-0712/ERHM-2023-00039

The study was recently published in the Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine.

Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicine (ERHM) publishes original exploratory research articles and state-of-the-art reviews that focus on novel findings and the most recent scientific advances that support new hypotheses in medicine. The journal accepts a wide range of topics, including innovative diagnostic and therapeutic modalities as well as insightful theories related to the practice of medicine. The exploratory research published in ERHM does not necessarily need to be comprehensive and conclusive, but the study design must be solid, the methodologies must be reliable, the results must be true, and the hypothesis must be rational and justifiable with evidence.

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