Salivary progesterone concentrations in symptomatic patients with imminent preterm labor and patients with deliveries beyond 7 days

Abstract

Objective: To compare progesterone concentrations in saliva in symptomatic patients with imminent preterm labor and patients with deliveries beyond 7 days. Methodology: Prospective and longitudinal study carried out at the Central Hospital "Dr. Urquinaona" of Venezuela. Patients with preterm delivery within 7 days (group A) and with preterm delivery beyond 7 days (group B) were selected. General characteristics, saliva progesterone concentrations, imminent preterm delivery and prognostic efficacy were analyzed. Results: A total of 327 patients were included, 75 women in group A and 251 patients in group B. Patients in group A had lower saliva progesterone values (3.003 +/- 447 pg/mL) compared to patients in group B (3.639 +/- 430 pg/mL; p < 0.0001). The predictive cutoff value was 3,100 pg/mL, demonstrating an area under the curve value of 0.834 with sensitivity of 58.7%, specificity of 84.9%, positive predictive value of 53.7%, negative predictive value of 87.3% and prognostic accuracy of 78.8% for prediction of impending preterm labor. Conclusions: Saliva progesterone concentrations are significantly lower in patients with imminent preterm labor compared to those patients with deliveries beyond 7 days.