External birth defects in southern Vietnam: a population-based study at the grassroots level of health care in Binh Thuan province

Abstract

BackgroundThere currently exists no data on birth defects from population-based studies in Vietnam. Our study's aim was to assess external birth defect (EBD) prevalence among live newborns in Binh Thuan Province in Vietnam with the help of health workers at all levels of the health system.MethodsA 2-month training session for 452 health professionals (HP) practicing delivery care in 127 Commune Health Stations (CHS) and in 12 provincial or district hospitals (DH) was setup in 2006. After a successful 6-month pilot study, a one-year registry of EBDs was established in 2008. All live newborns were screened for EBDs within 24 hours after birth in all DH obstetric departments and in all CHSs. Trained local HPs collected information by filling out a predesigned form and by photographing the affected newborn. EBDs were coded using the International Classification of Diseases system-10, Clinical Modification. The study was repeated in 2010.ResultsThroughout 2010, out of a total of 13,954 newborns, 84 cases with one or more EBDs were reported, representing an overall prevalence rate of 60.2 per 10,000 live births. The most common groups of EBDs were limbs (27.2/10,000), orofacial clefts (20.1/10,000) and the central nervous system (7.9/10,000).ConclusionsThis first population-based study in Vietnam, which required coordination efforts at the local level, provides baseline prevalences of external birth defects. Data on EBDs from this study in southern Vietnam may be useful for setting up a regional population-based registry of birth defects in Vietnam.

Epidemiology of birth defects based on surveillance data from 2011–2015 in Guangxi, China: comparison across five major ethnic groups

“…Our average prevalence rate was the highest among similar studies in various regions of China, such as Hunan (191.84 per 10,000 PIs) from 2005 to 2014; Inner Mongolia (156.1 per 10,000 PIs) from 2005 to 2008; and overall China (145.43 per 10,000 PIs) in 2009 [ 18 , 25 , 29 ]. Our rate was lower than that reported from the United States (29.2 per 1000 PIs) in 2008, and the reported from the Korea (548.3 per 10,000 births, from 2009 to 2010), but higher than the reported from BDs in southern Vietnam (60.2 per 10,000 live births) [ 30 – 32 ]. Actually Hunan, Inner Mongolia and most of the other similar studies in China use a BD monitoring period between 28 weeks of gestation and 7 days after birth; [ 25 , 29 ] but in the United State the live birth hospitalizations are used in the 2008 Nationwide Inpatient Sample [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Birth prevalence of congenital talipes equinovarus in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…All the studies drew cases from a hospital setting. Eight of 37 studies (21.6%) that used a prospective design with physical examination were undertaken in more than one hospital [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Nine studies used a large database review in settings where there was systematic screening for clubfoot [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39], one study analysed data from a single hospital defects monitoring system [40] and one study used a cluster sample survey [41].…”

Prevalence and associated factors of birth defects among newborns in sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The most common types of birth defect were musculoskeletal systems defects followed by neural tube defects while the least frequent were urogenital system defects and down syndrome. Comparable sequence of the organ system defects have been described in a study conducted in southern Vietnam and where the most common types of BD were musculoskeletal system defects [ 51 ]. However, in a previous systematic review and meta-analysis on types of birth defects conducted in Iran [ 52 ], urogenital anomalies were the most frequent type of birth defects.…”