Extracting the frequent sequential patterns among the factors associated with neonatal birthweight

Abstract

The objective of this study was to employ the association rules mining technique to find the frequent co-occurrences among maternal factors associated with birthweight. Secondary data consisting of 189 records with predictors that assess the risk factors that influence low neonatal birthweight were employed for association rules mining. The extracted rules show that the different patterns of co-occurrences among these factors: a mother's pre-pregnancy weight, presence/absence of uterine irritability, attendance to antenatal care visits in the first trimester, hypertension history, maternal age, and a history of premature labor often lead to either a low or normal neonatal birthweight. The extracted rules could serve as a reference tool in the education, treatment, and care of pregnant women to ensure positive outcomes related to birthweight. Flowing from these rules, pregnant mothers should be educated about the relationship between their attributes and the probable birthweight of their unborn babies.