FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INSUFFICIENT BIRTH WEIGHT

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INSUFFICIENT BIRTH WEIGHT OBJECTIVE. To identify risk factors for insufficient birth weight, in the Brazilian city of Campinas from the Live Birth Certificates. METHODS. A cross-sectional study was conducted consulting data from 14,444 Live Birth Certificates from the year 2001. These newborn birth weights ranged from 285g to 5,890g ( mean 3,142g), 65.1% of them weighted 3,000g or more, while 25.7% had insufficient weight. A sample of 12,779 term newborn from single pregnancies, with a birth weight > 2,500g was selected. Birth weight was the dependent variable and maternal, pregnancy, delivery and newborn characteristics were the independent variables. Association among variables was assessed by Chi-square test, crude odds-ratio (OR) was calculated. For adjusted odds-ratio (adjOR) values, a logistic regression model was used. RESULTS. Results showed association between insufficient birth weight and newborn of the female gender (adjOR = 1.57 [95% CI 1.44 - 1.70]), birth from primiparous mothers (adjOR = 1.47 [95% CI 1.35 - 1.60]), inadequate prenatal care (adjOR = 1.42 [95% CI 1.29 - 1.58]) and vaginal delivery (adjOR = 1.23 [95% CI 1.13 - 1.34]). CONCLUSION. The risk for insufficient birth weight was higher for female newborn, offspring of primiparous women, of women who had inadequate prenatal care and had vaginal delivery. [Rev Assoc Med Bras 2009; 55(2): 153-7]