The height of pregnant women, ultrasound parameters of bone mineral density status and pregnancy complications
Maloletkina O.L., Peresada O.A., Rusina N.V., Nafranovich D.I.
Objective. To assess the possible association between the height of pregnant women, ultrasound parameters of bone tissue status, and the occurrence of somatic diseases that led to complicated pregnancy, as well as obstetric complications.
Materials and methods. The study included 104 women with singleton pregnancy. Based on the height of women, all patients were divided into 2 groups. Group A (N=52) included women whose height was under 167 cm. Group B (N=52) included women whose height was 167 cm or taller. The groups A and B were divided into subgroups А1 and А2, В1 and В2 based on the results of ultrasound bone densitometry (UBD). Subgroups A1 (n=34) and В1 (n=30) included pregnant women who had UBD scores of -1.0 or higher. Subgroups А2 (n=18) and В2 (n=22) included women who had UBD scores -1.1 and lower.
Results. No statistically significant differences were found between the studied groups in the occurrence of the majority of investigated somatic diseases and obstetric complications. Comparison of the four subgroups showed the differences regarding acute vaginitis, an episode of preterm labor without preterm delivery, and fetal overgrowth. However, after using the Bonferroni correction, the difference between the subgroups A2 and B2 regarding an episode of preterm labor remained statistically significant. The obtained results are exploratory.
Conclusion. This pilot study yielded no conclusive evidence on association between the height of pregnant women and ultrasound parameters of bone mineral density status, the majority of the investigated somatic diseases and obstetric complications. A limited sample size and a small number of registered outcomes, do not allow to exclude clinically significant associations. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm the obtained results.
Authors' contributions. Maloletkina O.L. – the study concept and design, material collection, statistical data processing, manuscript writing; Peresada O.A. – the study concept and design; Rusina N.V. – statistical data processing, manuscript editing; Nafranovich D.I. – statistical data processing.
Conflicts of interest. The authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest.
Funding. The study was carried out without any sponsorship on the authors’ initiative.
Ethical Approval. The study was approved by the Biomedical Ethics Committee, Belarusian State Medical University, Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Belarus (protocol No. 11 of June 20.06.2025).
Generative Artificial Intelligence. No generative AI was used in preparing this article.
Patient Consent for Publication. The patients have signed informed consent for publication of their data.
Authors' Data Sharing Statement. The data supporting the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author after approval from the principal investigator.
For citation: Maloletkina O.L., Peresada O.A., Rusina N.V., Nafranovich D.I. The height of pregnant women,
ultrasound parameters of bone mineral density status and pregnancy complications.
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiya/Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2026; (9): 72-77 (in Russian)
https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/aig.2026.05
Keywords
pregnancy
growth
bone mineral density
ultrasound bone densitometry
pregnancy complications
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Received 15.01.2026
Accepted 20.08.2026
About the Authors
Olga L. Maloletkina, PhD, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Advanced Training and Retraining of Healthcare Personnel of the Belarusian State Medical University, 220013, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, P. Brovki str., 3, build. 3, +375(29)172-32-78, o.l.maloletkina@gmail.comOlga A. Peresada, Dr. Med. Sci., Professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Advanced Training and Retraining of Healthcare Personnel of Belarusian State Medical University, 220013, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, P. Brovki str., 3, build. 3, +375(29)6583613, dr.olga@yandex.by
Natalia V. Rusina, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economic Informatics, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, 220013, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, P. Brovki str., 6, +375(29)7557384, n.rusina@bsuir.by
Daria I. Nafranovich, student at the group No. 324404 of the Faculty of Information Technologies and Management, Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, 220013, Republic of Belarus, Minsk, P. Brovki str., 6, +375(29)77015386, nafda1811@icloud.com
Corresponding author: Olga L. Maloletkina, o.l.maloletkina@gmail.com
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