Results
From a population of 418 women with symptoms of
preterm labor, 192 subjects met the entry criteria, and
226 subjects were excluded for the reasons shown in
Table I. The mean gestational age (? 1 SD) for all
subjects was 30.8 * 2.9 weeks at sampling and
37.4 2 3.1 weeks at delivery. The mean interval from
enrollment to delivery was 46.1 t 27.1 days for all
subjects. Sixty-two subjects (32%) were delivered before
37 weeks. Fibronectin was found in samples from 45
subjects (23.4b).
The mean interval between sampling and delivery for
patients with a positive fetal fibronectin test result was
significantly shorter than for patients with a negative
result (25.3 f 24.1 vs 52.4 -+ 24.8 days, p = 0.0001).