Spatial distribution of low birthweight infants in Taubaté, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify the spatial pattern of low birth weight infants in the city of Taubaté, São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. METHODS: Ecological and exploratory study, developed with the data acquired from the Health Department of Taubaté, regarding the period from January 1st 2006 and December 31st 2010. Birth certificates were used to obtain the data from infants weighing less than 2500g. A digital basis of census tracts was applied and the Global Moran index (IM) was estimated. Thematic maps were built for the distribution of low birth weight, health centers and tracts, according to the priority care (Moran map). The adopted statistical significance was α=5% and TerraView software conducted the spatial analysis. RESULTS: There were 18,915 live births during the study period, with 1,817 low birth weight infants (9.6%). The low birth weight infants' prevalence during the period ranged from 9.3 to 9.8%. A total of 1,185 infants with known addresses, compatible with the digital base (65.2% of low birth weight infants), were included. The IM for low birth weight was 0.12, with p<0.01; regarding the health centers distribution, IM was -0.07, with p=0.01. The Moran map identified 11 census tracts with high priority for intervention by health managers, located in the outskirts of the city. CONCLUSIONS: The spatial analysis identified the low birth weight distribution by census tracts and the sectors with a high priority for intervention.

Spatial distribution and factors associated with low birth weight in Ethiopia using data from Ethiopian demographic and health survey 2016: spatial and multilevel analysis

“…The spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that low birth weight had spatial dependency (Moran'I=0.56, p-value: 0.01) in Ethiopia. This result was in agreement with studies done in upper-and middle-income countries (17,(31)(32)(33) where low birth weight had shown significant spatial clustering across different regions within respective countriess. This might be due to the variation in maternal health service utilization during pregnancy and variation in health service coverage across different regions in Etiopia.…”

Baixo peso ao nascer em município da região sudeste do Brasil

“…Most mothers had single pregnancies in 97.30% of all live births, appropriate gestational age, pregnancies to term in 88.90% (1,193,226) of the cases, and 56.50% (758,882) had a cesarean section. Twin and triplet pregnancies or more were determining factors in the prevalence of LBW in 62.90% and 96.90% of the cases, respectively.…”

“…The association between low birth weight and prematurity is described in several studies (1,(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) , however there is one study that identifies that this association is inadequate. The authors (12) report that prematurity may be related to incorrect calculation of the probable date of delivery and to the increased occurrence of cesarean deliveries.…”

“…The weight of newborns is an important indicator of fetal health and a predictor of normal growth during childhood and adolescence, being determinant as a risk in neonatal morbidity and mortality (1) . The World Health Organization defines low birth weight (LBW) as being at or below 2,500 g (2) .…”

Spatial distribution for diarrhea hospitalization in São Paulo State

“…6 Spatial analysis is a great importance for the public health since it helps in the diagnosis and the planning in the affected areas through the geographic characteristic of the disease. 6 This tool has been used in several types of studies in varied themes in the pediatric area, such as the spatial analysis of hospitalizations due to pneumonia and burns in Mato Grosso State, 7 in the distribution of newborns with low birth weight, 8 in neonatal mortality, 9 and other themes for the interest in public health, such as fatal victims in traffic accidents 10 and the identification of risky areas for schistosomiasis mansoni. 11 The objective of this study is to identify the spatial patterns of hospitalization due to diarrhea in children 0 to 4 years old in the counties in São Paulo State, between 2008 and 2012.…”