Low Birth Weight & Associated Factors Among Newborns in Gondar Town, North West Ethiopia: Institutional Based CrossSectional Study

Abstract

BACKGOUND: Reducing infant mortality is a global priority which is particularly relevant in developing countries including Ethiopia. One of the key strategies to reduce infant mortality rate and improving child health is improving birth weight; however, low birth weight is significantly higher in Ethiopia. The main aim of this study was to determine prevalence and identify associated factors of low birth weight among newborns in Gondar town, North West Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution based cross-sectional study was employed. Systematic sampling was used to select 540 study participants. A pre tested and structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The data was entered, cleaned and edited using EPI INFO version 2002 and exported to SPSS version 16.0 software packages for analysis. Both bivariate and multiple logistic regression were fitted and odds ratio and 95% CI were computed to identify associated factors and determine the strength of association. A p-value of <0.05 was considered as statistical significant. RESULT: The response rate was 100%.The mean gestational age of the newborns was 39.49±1.53 weeks. The mean age of the respondents was 25.8±5.5 years. The overall prevalence of low birth weight was 17.4%. The covariates pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR 9.2(95%CI 3.36, 25.3)), malaria attack during pregnancy (AOR 4.9(95%CI 1.95, 12.3)), female sex newborn (AOR 2.1, (95%CI 1.18, 3.76)) and gestational age less than 37 weeks (AOR 18, 95%CI 5.8, 31.2)) were found to be significantly associated with birth weight of new born. CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of low birth weight in the study area. Effective treatment and preventive of malaria and pregnancy induced hypertension; prevention of preterm birth could reduce low birth weight. © 2014 iGlobal Research and Publishing Foundation. All rights reserved.