[Prevalence of birth defects according to the level of care in two hospitals, Cali, Colombia, 2012-2013].

INTRODUCTION

Birth defects are morphologic alterations diagnosed prenatal or postnatally. Surveillance systems have been used to estimate the prevalence in high complexity care centers; however, the variation of the prevalence among different complexity care centers remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prevalence of birth defects among two different complexity care centers in Cali, Colombia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A descriptive hospital-based study following the methodology of the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations was conducted during 20 months in a medium complexity hospital and a high complexity hospital.

RESULTS

During the study period, 7,140 births were attended of which 225 had at least one birth defect. The prevalence of these was of 1.7% (IC95% 1.3-2.0) and 7.4% (IC95% 6.2-8.7) for the medium complexity hospital and the high complexity hospital, respectively. The highest frequencies for the high complexity care center were: ventricular septal defect, 10%; congenital hydronephrosis, 7%; abdominal wall defects, 6%, and hydrocephalus, 5%, while for the medium complexity were: polydactyly, 15%; preauricular skin tags, 8%; congenital talipes equino varus, 7%, and hemangioma, 6%.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of birth defects among different complexity care centers varies in quantity, type and severity of the anomaly diagnosed. The surveillance of birth defects is a useful tool for any level of care. It allows estimating more accurately the prevalence of the city, as well being a base for the planning and targeting of resources according to the prevalence of different congenital defects.