RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: low birth weight is considered one of the most important indicators for the survivability of a newborn and for a higher risk of morbidity, perinatal mortality and infant mortality. The purpose of this study was to analyse factors associated with low birth weight at the Kingasani Hospital in Kinshasa. METHODS: we conducted a retrospective case-control study. The data about the information of the parturients and their children born from 1st January to 31st December 2016 were collected from the maternity register of the Kingasani Hospital Center. In this study 458 cases (less than 2500 grams) were compared to 458 controls (2500-4000 grams). Multivariate analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression in order to identify factors associated with low birth weight. RESULTS: in 2016, 3451 live births were registered and the rate of underweight was estimated to 13.27%. Bivariate analysis showed that parity, the term of pregnancy, pregnancy type and infant's sex were variables significantly associated with low birth weight. After adjusting for variables integrated in multivariate analysis, parity, the term of pregnancy and pregnancy type were still significantly associated with low birth weight. CONCLUSION: given these results, new studies of all the parameters involved in the occurrence of low birth weight are necessary in order to monitor the regular evolution of this issue and its associated factors.
