International journal of epidemiology
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Studies examining the associations between short birth spacing and child mortality have often concentrated on the strength of the associations whilst the public health importance of short spacing in specific communities has received less attention. This study re-examines the association between short birth intervals and child mortality in rural Senegal and discusses the potential direct effects of efforts to delay births on child mortality in this community. ⋯ In this community where prolonged breastfeeding causes women to space their births at long intervals, short birth intervals are a consequence rather than a cause of child mortality and the potential direct effects of birth spacing efforts on child mortality are limited. To reduce the high levels of child mortality, efforts will have to be made to ensure effective preventive and curative health services, and to maintain the traditional pattern of breastfeeding.
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Comparative Study
Birthweight outcomes among Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups in the United States.
Information on birth outcome among the Asian and Pacific Islander populations in the US is limited. This report examines the risks of moderately low (MLBW) and very low birthweight (VLBW) among six Asian subgroups (Chinese, Japanese, Fillipinos, Asian Indians, Koreans, Vietnamese) and three Pacific Islander subgroups (Hawaiians, Guamanians, Samoans) as compared with non-Hispanic whites. ⋯ Marked heterogeneity in birthweight outcome was observed between Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups. This heterogeneity was not related to traditional demographic risk factors. Additionally, risks of VLBW and MLBW were not always related. These findings suggests that the Asian American and Pacific Islander populations should not be aggregated into a single category, and that traditional measures of risk and birth outcome may not be valid for those groups.
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Cape Town is undergoing rapid urbanization. South African vital statistics have routinely been stratified by racial categories but intra-urban and peri-urban geographical variations have been neglected. ⋯ Routine mortality data are more informative if stratified by robust and readily available indicators of socio-economic status such as residential area and racial category. Place of residence may distinguish risk strata as well as racial category, but the latter is helpful within socioeconomically heterogeneous residential areas.