Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T07:22:33.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Determinants of low birthweight: a comparative study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Barthelemy Kuate Defo  and
Melissa Partin
Barthelemy Kuate Defo
Affiliation:
Center for Demography and Ecology and Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Melissa Partin
Affiliation:
Center for Demography and Ecology and Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The study compares biological, socioeconomic and behavioural determinants of low birthweight in Cameroon and the United States. Some factors in low birthweight are found to be cross-national, but others are specific to the setting. Positive risk factors of low birthweight in both countries include unmarried motherhood, female sex, multiple births, and preterm births. Outcome of the previous pregnancy is a positive risk factor in the US, but not in Cameroon. Significant negative risk factors include prenatal care visits (in both countries), mother's education (in the US only), births to mothers aged 20–34 and birth orders of 2 or more (in Cameroon only). Separate analyses of all births and the subsamples of singleton births reveal that estimates for the two groups differ only marginally.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , January 1993 , pp. 87 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cramer, J. (1984) Social factors and infant mortality: identifying high risk groups and proximate causes. Demography 24, 299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dole, N., Gleiter, K., Savitz, D., Chimbira, T. & Mbizvo, M. (1990) Birthweight patterns in Harare, Zimbabwe. Am. J. Epidemiol. 19, 98.Google ScholarPubMed
Dowding, V. M. (1981) New assessment of the effects of birth order and socioeconomic status on birth weight. Br. med. J. 282, 683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eberstein, I. & Parker, J. (1984) Racial differences in infant mortality by cause of death: the impact of birth weight and maternal age. Demography 21, 309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisner, V., Brazie, J. V., Pratt, M. W. & Hexter, A. C. (1979) The risk of low birthweight. Am. J. publ. Hlth 69, 887.Google Scholar
Ferry, B. (1983) Les determinants proches de la fécondité au Cameroon et leur importance dans les changements demographiques potentiels. In: Seminaire sur les Resultats de l’Enquete Nationale sur la Fecondite au Cameroon. Ministère de l’Economie et du Plan, Yaounde.Google Scholar
Fitzhardinge, P. M. (1976) Follow-up studies of low birth weight infant. Clin. Perinatol., 3, 503.Google Scholar
Fitzhardinge, P. M. & Steven, E. M. (1972) The small-for-date infant. II. Neurologic and intellectual sequelae. Pediatrics 50, 50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garsen, J. (1985) Methodes de calcul des taux de mortalité infantile sur la base des donnees de l’enquête sur la mortalite infantile et juvenile a Yaounde. In: Etude de Quelques Problemes Methodologiques Lies aux Enquetes EMIJ. IFORD.Google Scholar
Hack, M., Fanaroff, A. A. & Merkatz, I. R. (1979) The low birthweight infant—evolution of a changing outlook. New Engl. J. Med. 30, 1162.Google Scholar
Hackman, E., Emanuel, I., Van Belle, G. & Daling, J. (1983) Maternal birth weight and subsequent pregnancy outcome. J. Am. med. Ass. 250, 2016.Google Scholar
Harvey, D., Prince, J., Bunton, J., Parkinson, C. & Campbell, S. (1982) Abilities of children who were small-for-gestational-age babies. Pediatrics 69, 296.Google Scholar
Hayes, C. D. (Ed.) (1987) Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing, Vol. 2. Working Papers, National Academy of the Sciences Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Klebanoff, M. A., Graubard, B. L., Kessel, S. S. & Berendes, H. W. (1984) Low birth weight across generations. J. Am. Med. Ass. 252, 2423.Google Scholar
Kleinman, J. E. & Madans, J. H. (1985) The effects of maternal smoking, physical stature, and educational attainment on the incidence of low birth weight. Am. J. Epidemiol. 121, 843.Google Scholar
Kramer, M. S. (1987) Determinants of low birthweight: methodological assessment and metaanalysis. Bull. Wld Hlth Org. 65, 663.Google Scholar
Kuate, Defo B. (1990) Effects of breastfeeding and maternal factors on health and survival at early ages in urban Cameroon. In: Options for Population Policy. Population Reference Bureau. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kuate, Defo B. (1992) Mortality and attrition processes in longitudinal studies in Africa: an appraisal of the IFORD Surveys. Popul. Stud. 46, 327.Google Scholar
McCormick, M. (1985) The contribution of low birth weight to infant mortality and childhood morbidity. New Engl. J. Med. 100, 443.Google Scholar
National Center For Health Statistics (1990) Health, United States 1989. Public Health Service, Hyattsville, Maryland.Google Scholar
Papile, L. A., Munsick-Bruno, G. & Schaefer, A. (1983) A relationship of cerebral intraventricular hemorrhage and early childhood neurologic handicaps. J. Pediatr. 103, 273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puffer, P. R. & Serrano, C. V. (1973) Patterns of Mortality in Childhood: Report of the Inter-American Investigation of Mortality in Childhood. Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ramey, C. T., Stedman, D. J., Borders-Patterson, A. & Mengel, W. (1978) Predicting school failure from information available at birth. Am. J. ment. Defic. 82, 525.Google ScholarPubMed
Rogers, R. (1989) Ethnic and birth weight differences in cause-specific infant mortality. Demography 26, 335.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1981) Weight of all births and infant mortality. J. Epidemiol. commun. Hlth 35, 185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shah, F. K. & Abbey, H. (1971) Effects of some factors in neonatal and postneonatal mortality. Milbank meml Fund Q. Bull. 49, 33.Google Scholar
Shapiro, S., McCormick, M. C., Starfield, B. H., Krischer, J. P. & Bross, D. (1980) Relevance of correlates of infant deaths for significant morbidity at 1 year of age. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 136, 363.Google Scholar
Showstack, A., Bundetti, P. & Minkler, D. (1984) Factors associated with birthweight: an exploration of the role of prenatal care and length of gestation. Am. J. Publ. Hlth 74, 1003.Google Scholar
Sing, S. (1987) Evaluation of data quality. In: The World Fertility Survey. An Assessment, pp. 618–643. Edited by Cleland, J & Scoot, C. Clarendon, Oxford.Google Scholar
Sprundel, M., Buve, A., Serufilira, A., Vander Auwera, J. C., Meheus, A. & De Clercq, A. (1988) Birth weight and socioeconomic status: a study in Kigali, Rwanda. Int. J. Epidemiol. 17, 579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, A., Turcan, D., Rawlings, G., Hart, S. & Gregory, S. (1978) Outcome for infants at high risk of major handicap. In: Major Mental Handicap: Methods and Costs of Prevention. Ciba Foundation Symposium 59, Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Tompkins, M. E., Alexander, G. R., Jackson, K. L., Hornung, C. A., Alterkruse, J. A. (1985) The risk of low birthweight. Alternative models of neonatal mortality. Am. J. Epidemiol. 122, 1067.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Villar, J. & Belizan, J. M. (1982) The timing factor in the pathophysiology of the intrauterine growth retardation syndrome. Obstet. Gynec. Surv. 37, 499.Google Scholar
Westwood, M., Kramer, M. S., Munz, D., Lovett, J. M. & Watters, G. V. (1983) Growth and development of full-term nonasphyxiated small-for-gestational-age newborns: follow-up through adolescence. Pediatrics, 71, 376.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1980) The incidence of low birth weight: a critical review of available information. World Health Statist. Q. 33, 197.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1984) The incidence of low birth weight: an update. Weekly Epidemiol. Rec. 59, 205.Google Scholar