Prematuridade e baixo peso ar nascer em três municípios da Paraíba no período de 1997 a 2011

Abstract

The advances in care during pregnancy and the fetus are not available seamlessly to all the regions of the country. Prematurity and low birth weight, adverse outcomes of pregnancy are two conditions that can be prevented. Their risk factors have been investigated in different locations and specific characteristics of population groups or health systems that modify these relationships. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of low birth weight and prematurity and to investigate its risk factors in live births in the cities of Patos, Cajazeiras and Sousa, county of Alto SertãoParaibano from 1997 to 2011. This is a cross-sectional study using data from System Live Birth Information. Public data were obtained from the Unified Health System data logging system. The study included all infants born to single pregnancy, residents mother of children in the three counties of interest during the fixed period. A descriptive analysis of all variables was done. To investigate the association between low birth weight and prematurity with the explanatory variables the Pearson chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used. To evaluate the risk factors we used logistic regression univariate and multivariate model. All independent variables with statistical significance level less than 0.2 were included in the multivariate model specific to each outcome. The significance level adopted to confirm associations and to identify risk factors for prematurity and low birth weight in both univariate logistic models as in multiple models was 5%. Among the 51,830 live births from mothers living in Patos, Cajazeiras and Sousa city from 1997 to 2011, 3,124 (6.03%) were newborns with low weight and 2,079 (4.01%) were premature. Regarding to the risk factors for low birth weight, female sex (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.56) and prenatal less than six consultations (OR = 1.37; 95% CI 1.24 to 1.50) were the ones that stood out and should be mentioned that being a teenager mother and have basic education or no education were also risk factors for this outcome. To prematurity, widowed or separated mother (OR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.38 to 3.30), fewer than six prenatal consultations (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.66 to 2, 06) and mothers with 36 years or more (OR = 1.40, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.69) were the most relevant risk factors, although the teenage or single mother also have been shown to be independent risk factors. For both outcomes, cesarean section showed a protective factor. We can conclude that despite the limitations in the structures of health services in the studied region, the prematurity prevalence and low birth weight are no greater than those observed in other Brazilian cities located in areas with higher HDI values and known risk factors and in other studies, some of them preventable, are still present in the genesis of these adverse outcomes, deserving attention and taking action to eliminate or to reduce them.