Prevalence and associated factors of congenital abnormalities in newborns

• Published in: Revista brasileira em promoção da saúde = Brazilian journal in health promotion Vol. 30; no. 3
• Main Authors: Elzo Pereira Pinto Junior, Leandro Alves da Luz, Marina Aguiar Pires Guimarães, Lívia Teixeira Tavares, Tatiana Ribeiro Santos Brito, Gabriela Di Filippo Souza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fortaleza Universidade de Fortaleza - Centro de Ciências da Saúde 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Apgar score; Babies; Bivariate analysis; Childbirth & labor; Confidence intervals; Health risk assessment; Multivariate analysis; Musculoskeletal system; Newborn babies; Pregnancy; Regression analysis; Statistical analysis
• ISSN: 1806-1222; 1806-1230
• DOI: 10.5020/18061230.2017.6467

Objective: To describe the prevalence and analyze the associated factors of congenital abnormalities in newborns (NBs). Methods: Cross-sectional study based on 33,141 Live Birth Certificates (LBCs) of babies whose mothers were living in Salvador, Bahia, in 2014. A descriptive analysis was initially performed, followed by bivariate analysis of the association between congenital abnormalities and maternal, pregnancy, and newborns characteristics, with estimation of prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). After the bivariate analysis, the multivariate logistic regression was performed. Results: The prevalence of congenital abnormalities was 1.0%, and the leading causes were conditions related to the musculoskeletal system (52.1%). The multivariate analysis evidenced higher prevalence of abnormalities in male newborns (PR=1.40; 95%CI: 1.12-1.74), with low birth weight (PR=2.34; 95% CI: 1.77-3.08) and unsatisfactory five-minute Apgar score (PR=3.34; 95%CI: 2.30-4.82), whose mothers were under 18 or over 35 years of age (PR=1.69; 95%CI: 1.17-2.43) and underwent cesarean delivery (PR=1.46; 95%CI: 1.17-1.83). Conclusion: A low prevalence of congenital abnormalities was found, and this outcome was associated with mothers at an extreme age and adverse clinical condition at birth, such as low weight and unsatisfactory Apgar score.