Determinants of Low Birth Weight Occurrence in Bahteramas Regional General Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify the determinants of Low Birth Weight (LBW) in Bahteramas General Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.
 Method: This research uses an institutional-based Case-Control Study design from May to June 2021 at the Bahteramas Hospital, Southeast Sulawesi Province. Data were collected from 134 samples of mothers giving birth, with 67 of them having babies with birth weight <2500 g (cases) and 67 of them having birth weights >2500 g (controls) using secondary data, namely medical records. Data were analyzed by univariate, bivariate with odds ratio test, and multivariate analysis with multiple logistic regression to identify the determinants of LBW..
 Result: Based on the logistic regression analysis, it found that the mother's educational status variable was ≤12 years [AOR 0.19 (95% CI 0.06-0.62)]; mothers with parity one or >3 [AOR 0.06 (95% CI 0.01-0.21)]; birth spacing <2 years [AOR 4.49 (95% CI 1.37-14.74)], mothers who had a history of hypertension during pregnancy [AOR 0.07 (95% CI 0.02-0.23)]; and mothers who had a history of anemia during pregnancy [AOR 0.10 (95% CI 0.03-0.31)] with parameter significance in the partial test, each p<0.05, shown to be associated with the incidence of LBW.
 Conclusions: This study concludes that the mother's low educational status, parity, birth spacing, history of hypertension, and history of anemia were found to be predictors of LBW. It is necessary to improve the knowledge, maintain birth interval, and routinely carry out ANC visits for early detection of pregnancy complications.
 Keywords: LBW; education status, parity; birth interval; history of hypertension; history of anemia.