Adolescent pregnancy in a Greek public hospital during a six-year period (2000-2005)--a retrospective study.

Study Objective: Adolescent pregnancy constitutes a multidimensional social problem in modern Greece. The purpose of this study was to investigate the trends of teenage childbearing and to determine the relationship between the incidence of teenage pregnancy and immigrant status of the mother.

Design: This is a retrospective correlational study. The birth registry of the hospital was examined for a 6-year period, from January 2000 to December 2005. Information about the age and nationality of the mothers was collected.

Setting: The hospital under investigation is Tzaneio Hospital, a public general hospital that provides health services to the residents of Piraeus, a large municipality next to Athens.

Results: During the study period 4628 women gave birth at Tzaneio Hospital, among which 349 (7.54%) were under the age of 19. The study hypothesis, that adolescent childbearing prevails among immigrant population, was confirmed (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Teenage pregnancy rate remains high among some subsamples of the population, such as immigrants. The Greek government, health professionals, and sexuality educators should all work together in order to confront this problem.