Ramon Prats

Indicadores de salud reproductiva y perinatal en mujeres inmigrantes y autóctonas residentes en Cataluña y en la Comunitat Valenciana (2005-2006)

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of teenage maternity, preterm birth and low birth weight in Spanish and immigrant mothers from Latin America, eastern Europe, Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa resident in Catalonia and Valencia from 2005 and 2006. METHODS Using data from congenital metabolic disorders registers in both regions, proportions and 95% confidence intervals were obtained for the following: 1) mothers aged less than 20 years; 2) preterm (<37 weeks) and very preterm (<32 weeks) births; and 3) low birth weight (<2500g) and very low birth weight (<1500g) neonates. The calculations were performed for mothers from each of the geographical areas of origin (Spain, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Maghreb and Sub-Sahara). These proportions were compared in Spanish-born and immigrant women and the significance of differences was assessed using chi-squared tests. RESULTS The prevalence of teenage mothers was between three and five times higher in immigrants than in Spanish women, the highest rate being found in women from eastern Europe. Preterm births, very preterm births and very low birth weight were more frequent in eastern European women than in Spanish women. The prevalence of prematurity and very low birth weight was higher in sub-Saharan mothers than in Spanish women. CONCLUSIONS The number of births in teenage mothers was higher in immigrant mothers from all origins than in Spanish women. The highest rates of low birth weight and preterm births were found in women from eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Calidad de los datos utilizados para el cálculo de indicadores de salud reproductiva y perinatal en población autóctona e inmigrante

OBJECTIVE To assess the quality of data on births in the Natural Population Movement (NPM) and congenital metabolic disorders registers with regard to calculation of reproductive and perinatal health indicators. METHODS The following comparisons between registers were made: (1) the total number of births to mothers living in Catalonia and Valencia from 2005 to 2006, (2) the percentage of missing data on the mothers geographical origin, (3) the percentage of missing data on the mothers age and the infants birthweight and gestational age according to maternal origin. RESULTS The congenital metabolic disorders registers exhaustively collected the total number of births gathered in the NPM. The percentages of missing data on material origin and age were higher in the congenital metabolic disorders registers, although the proportion of births by maternal origin and the mean maternal age in each ethnic group was fairly similar to that in the NPM. The percentages of missing data on birthweight and gestational age were much higher in the NPM data than in the congenital metabolic disorders registers, especially among births registered in Catalonia and births to foreign mothers. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest some limitations in the quality of the data on gestational age and birthweight provided by NPM data, especially for comparisons of preterm and low birthweight indicators in the Spanish-born and immigrant populations. Moreover, the results point to the quality of the congenital metabolic disorders registers as a source to compare reproductive and perinatal health indicators.

Construction of the birth weight by gestational age population reference curves of Catalonia (Spain): Methods and development

Infant size at birth is a useful indicator to evaluate fetal growth in relation to gestational age. There is no standard model to create anthropometric reference curves in neonates, but the method chosen could determine the reference values estimated. We describe the methods used to construct population-based reference curves of birth weight for gestational age in Catalonia, Spain. These methods included detection of implausible values of birth weight for gestational age by a probabilistic cluster model, utilization of the Generalized Additive Model for Location and Scale method to obtain smoothed percentiles and z-scores, and calculation of 95% confidence intervals by bootstrapping. To our knowledge, these are the first reference curves in neonates constructed through a method allowing asymmetric distributions with kurtosis to be modelled. Estimation of confidence intervals is useful to determine which reference intervals can be employed to assess newborn size.

Quality of data used to calculate reproductive and perinatal health indicators in native and migrant populations

OBJECTIVE To assess the quality of data on births in the Natural Population Movement (NPM) and congenital metabolic disorders registers with regard to calculation of reproductive and perinatal health indicators. METHODS The following comparisons between registers were made: (1) the total number of births to mothers living in Catalonia and Valencia from 2005 to 2006, (2) the percentage of missing data on the mothers geographical origin, (3) the percentage of missing data on the mothers age and the infants birthweight and gestational age according to maternal origin. RESULTS The congenital metabolic disorders registers exhaustively collected the total number of births gathered in the NPM. The percentages of missing data on material origin and age were higher in the congenital metabolic disorders registers, although the proportion of births by maternal origin and the mean maternal age in each ethnic group was fairly similar to that in the NPM. The percentages of missing data on birthweight and gestational age were much higher in the NPM data than in the congenital metabolic disorders registers, especially among births registered in Catalonia and births to foreign mothers. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest some limitations in the quality of the data on gestational age and birthweight provided by NPM data, especially for comparisons of preterm and low birthweight indicators in the Spanish-born and immigrant populations. Moreover, the results point to the quality of the congenital metabolic disorders registers as a source to compare reproductive and perinatal health indicators.