Robles A, Goldman N
Office of Population Research, Princeton University, NJ 08540, USA.
Int J Epidemiol. 1999 Oct;28(5):925-31. doi: 10.1093/ije/28.5.925.
Because hospital records rarely exist for a representative sample of the population in developing countries, researchers frequently rely on birthweight data from surveys. Yet, the quality of these data has rarely been evaluated. This study explores the accuracy of birthweight information in six demographic and health surveys in Latin America conducted in the early 1990s: two in Guatemala, and one each in Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Peru.
The quality of the birthweight reports is assessed by examining the plausibility of estimates of the proportion of newborns reported to have been weighed and estimates derived from the numerical weights, by characteristics of the delivery and maternal education.
The estimates suggest that a substantial proportion of women whose newborns were probably never weighed report a birthweight. For all of the surveys, with the possible exception of Costa Rica, the average birthweights appear to be too high, and the estimates of the prevalence of low birthweight too low. In addition, the data reveal anomalous patterns, such as higher birthweights for home as compared with hospital deliveries.
These findings suggest that estimates of low birthweight derived from surveys in developing countries are likely to portray an overly optimistic picture of children's and women's health status. More information about the underlying source of these data are needed not only to provide additional insight into the degree of error characterizing existing estimates, but also to improve data collection strategies in future health interview surveys.
由于发展中国家缺乏能代表全体人口的医院记录样本，研究人员常常依赖调查中的出生体重数据。然而，这些数据的质量很少得到评估。本研究探讨了20世纪90年代初在拉丁美洲进行的六项人口与健康调查中出生体重信息的准确性：危地马拉的两项调查，以及玻利维亚、哥斯达黎加、萨尔瓦多和秘鲁各一项调查。
通过检查报告称已称重的新生儿比例估计值以及从数字体重得出的估计值的合理性，按分娩特征和产妇教育程度来评估出生体重报告的质量。
估计表明，很大一部分其新生儿可能从未被称重的妇女报告了出生体重。对于所有调查，哥斯达黎加可能除外，平均出生体重似乎过高，低出生体重患病率的估计值过低。此外，数据揭示了异常模式，例如在家分娩的婴儿出生体重高于医院分娩的婴儿。
这些发现表明，发展中国家调查得出的低出生体重估计值可能会对儿童和妇女的健康状况描绘出过于乐观的图景。不仅需要更多关于这些数据潜在来源的信息，以便进一步了解现有估计值的误差程度，还需要改进未来健康访谈调查中的数据收集策略。
