The Incidence of Low Birth Weight (LBW) and Small- for- Gestational Age (SGA) and its Related Factors in Neonates, Sabzevar, Iran

Low birth weight (LBW) is a high risk for children''s health and a problem of public health in under developing countries. SGA increases neonatal and infant death, and neonatal and adult morbidity. So the present study aimed to assess the incidence of LBW, SGA and their related factors in Sabzevar, Iran. This prospective descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 481 low birth weight neonates born in Mobini Academic Hospital of Sabzevar, Iran, in 2011 to 2012. Neonates who their BW was <2500g entered the study. Study tool was a researcher-made checklist. It was confirmed by content validity and internal consistency (Cronbach''s alpha (α=0.81)) reliability. Data were analyzed by descriptive- analytic statistics and using SPSS 11.5. 480 (6.33%) of participating newborns were LBW (out of 7599). Mean weight of LBW neonates was (2039.1±9.6) g. Among LBW neonates, 62 (12.7%) and 24 (5%) of neonates were Very low birth weight (VLBW) and Extremely low birth weight (ELBW), respectively. 162 (34.1%) of neonates were SGA (out of LBW neonates). SGA rate was 2.2% (out of total newborns). Family income (p =0.026) and mother''s education (p =0.004) were significantly lower in SGA neonates rather than LBW neonates. The incidence of mothers'' urinary infection in VLBW neonates was significantly higher than non-VLBW neonates (p <0.001). Findings showed that LBW and SGA incidence were similar to these statistics in developed countries and also other cities of Iran. But most types of growth retardation were asymmetric, in reverse to the reference books.