Birth defects surveillance program
experience of the Latin American study of congenital malformations at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22491/2357-9730.126028Keywords:
surveillance program, birth defectsAbstract
OBJECTIVES: The authors show here the result of the registry analysis of the Birth Defects Surveillance Program, linked to the Latin American Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC), from january 1993 to december 2000. This is a hospital-based registry, with a case-control design, which is carried out in 70 hospitals of Latin America. The importance of the development of registry programs of birth defects with the purpose of offering to government agencies the alternatives for the primary prevention of some congenital malformations. Some research projects, carried out in collaboration with ECLAMC, are also presented.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: PMDC/ECLAMC was established in 1983 at Hospital das Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) and it has not been interrupted since then. All births that occurred from January 1993 to December 2000 were considered in this study. We included in the study all newborns weighing ³ 500g, either liveborn or stillborn. April and May 2000 represented only 2% of births in that year and were excluded due to technical problems, which did not have a significant influence on the final analysis. A database, based on the registers of malformed liveborns, controls and stillborns was created with Epinfo 6. These data were then analyzed, and they constitute the results of this study.
RESULTS: Between January 1993 and December 2000, 31,680 children were born at HCPA, Among them, 31,090 were liveborns and 590 were stillborns. Birth defects were detected in 1632 (5.25%) of liveborns and in 72 (12.20%) of stillborns, totalizing 1,704 malformed children. When all birth defects are considered, it is possible to observe a time variation without epidemiological effect on the population. Twin pregnancy was identified as a risk factor for the occurrence of malformation, with OR=2.64 (CI: 1.30 – 5.47). The performance of prenatal follow-up and maternal age under 35 years were identified as protecting factors with OR=0.78 (CI: 0.64 – 0.96) and 0.84 (IC: 0.76 – 0.93), respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of similar programs in other maternities and the connection with institutions involved with research on birth defects would bring important benefits to families and regional population.
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