Potential use of birthweight indicators in rural Tanzania for monitoring malaria control in pregnancy

Wort, U. U., Warsame, M. and Brabin, Bernard (2008) 'Potential use of birthweight indicators in rural Tanzania for monitoring malaria control in pregnancy'. Public Health, Vol 122, Issue 9, pp. 923-932.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Objective: Birthweight outcomes in rural Tanzania were determined in relation to place of delivery (hospital, dispensary or home), parity and maternal age (adolescent or non-adolescent) in order to evaluate the usefulness of birthweight data for monitoring malaria control in pregnancy.
Study design: Retrospective descriptive study.
Methods: Birthweight data for the years 1997-2001 were obtained from Kilosa district hospital (n = 6269), nine dispensaries (n = 3688) and for home deliveries (n = 677).
Results: The prevalence of low birthweight in singletons was highest in hospital births (primigravidae, 23.4%; multigravidae, 10.0%). Adolescent primigravidae with home deliveries had the lowest mean birthweight (2.611 kg; 95% confidence interval 2.546-2.676 kg). An excess risk of low birthweight in primigravidae compared with multigravidae was seen with increasing distance from the district hospital. The population attributable risk percent for tow birthweight in primigravidae associated with malaria increased with distance from the hospital, from 30% for Kilosa town to 45.7% at distances >50 km. Young adolescent primigravidae were at highest risk of poor birthweight outcomes. Dispensary birthweight data were considered to provide the most representative sample for routine birthweight surveillance.
Conclusions: Birthweight indicators show that malaria control in pregnancy is poor in this population, deteriorates with distance of place of birth from the main hospital location, and is worst in adolescent primigravidae. Greater attention should be given to the use of birthweight indicators in rural areas of Tanzania for monitoring malaria control in pregnancy. (C) 2008 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	birthweight pregnancy malaria tanzania adolescent pregnancy transmission area risk outcomes africa growth malawi kenya care
Subjects:	WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 309 Women's health WQ Obstetrics > Pregnancy Complications > WQ 240 Pregnancy complications (General) WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WS Pediatrics > By Age Groups > WS 420 Newborn infants. Neonatology WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 395 Health in developing countries WS Pediatrics > By Age Groups > WS 460 Adolescence (General)
Faculty: Department:	Groups (2002 - 2012) > Child & Reproductive Health Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2007.12.012
Depositing User:	Pauline Anderson
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2010 13:02
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:00
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/662

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item