A Comparative Analysis of Prenatal Care and Fetal Growth in Eight South American Countries

摘要: There has been little work that comprehensively compared the relationship between prenatal care and infant health across multiple countries using similar data sources analytical models. Such comparative analyses are useful for understanding background of differences in populations. We evaluated association visits fetal growth measured by birth weight (BW) grams or low (<2500 grams; LBW) adjusted gestational age eight South American similarly collected same OLS logistic regressions were estimated adjusting a large set relevant maternal household characteristics year hospital fixed effects. Birth acquired from 140 hospitals part Latin Collaborative Study Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) network. The sample included 56014 live-born infants ( approximately 69% total sample) with complete born without congenital anomalies years 1996-2011 Brazil Argentina Chile Venezuela Ecuador Colombia Bolivia Uruguay. Prenatal significantly (at p<.05) positively associated BW negatively LBW all countries. coefficients ranged 9 per visit to 36 was strongest (OR = 0.87 visit) lowest 0.95). decreased recent decade earlier years. Our findings suggest estimates population-specific may not be generalizable other Furthermore as one indicators countrys healthcare system child is highly variable indicator America.