title: The effect of sociodemographic variables on child-spacing in rural Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Adequate child-spacing is considered a positive factor in the health of mothers and their children. A house-to-house survey of 332 women in Al-Oyaynah village, Saudi Arabia was carried out in April and May of 1995 to determine the existing practice of child-spacing and factors influencing it. The variables examined included age of the mother, age at marriage, education, income, parity, type of infant-feeding and birth order. The age of the mother, age at marriage and education were significantly associated with the length of the birth interval. The current age of mother and her parity were found to be the only significant predictor variables of birth interval.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: al-Nahedh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001721:Birth Intervals; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016014:Linear Models; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008423:Maternal Age; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D010298:Parity; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires