Low Birth Weight and Its Association with Pattern and Risk of Acute Respiratory Infection Among Infants in Rivers State, Nigeria: What Can we do to Improving the Situation?
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان:
Low Birth Weight and Its Association with Pattern and Risk of Acute Respiratory Infection Among Infants in Rivers State, Nigeria: What Can we do to Improving the Situation?
Birth weight is known as a predictor of infant’s survival and physical and mental growth in the future. Reduced immunosufficiency and impaired lung function are the two major mechanisms linking birth weight to acute lower respiratory infection. The aim was to determine the existence and the pattern of relationship between risk of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) among infants and birth weight. The study design was population-based case-control study of 1,100 randomly selected infants from 12 communities in 6 Local Government Areas of the 3 senatorial districts of Rivers State. The subjects were selected using a multistage random sampling technique down to the community level. The features of the subjects were represented using descriptive methods were as bivariate logistics regression at the 5% level of significance was used to test the disparities in ARI between normal birth weight and low birth weight infants. Measures of size effect of ARI on birth weight differences were interpreted using Odds Ratio (OR). More cases of ARI (19.4%) occurred among infants of low birth weight in urban communities than rural communities (10.0%). In overall, infants having low birth weight status, had a higher frequency (15.6%) in the occurrence of ARI than those with normal birth weight (6.3%). Among infants of low birth weight (
