Temporal trend and spatial variability of low birth weight in the Ciego de Ávila province (1991-2017)
Abstract
Introduction: low birth weight is the most important index to determine the possibilities of the newborn to survive and have normal growth and development.
Objective: to characterize the temporal tendency and spatial variability of low birth weight in the province of Ciego de Ávila (Cuba) during the period 1991-2017.
Method: an exploratory ecological descriptive observational study was conducted, monthly and annual low birth weight series were used, and simple arithmetic, correlogram, periodogram and Tukey graph were constructed. To visualize the spatial variability, a map of areas by municipalities was used, the statistic software and Mapinfo were used.
Results: the secular trend of low birth weight is descending (R2 = 0.7806), the annual correlograma showed a fan behavior, the highest oscillation of the periodogram was identified in the frequency 0.6907. The maximum values of the low weight index were found in the municipality of Venezuela and Baraguá (13.9%) and the lowest values in the municipality of Florencia (2.1%). The municipalities that’s howed the highest incidence of the indicator were located towards the southern area of the province.
Conclusions: The province has had a decreasing tendency of low birth weight, the municipality of origin of the mothers constitutes a variable that influences the variability of the same, the indicator has had a cyclical behavior within crements every 2 years and spatially there are differentials in its behavior