title: Frequency of visits for health care by low-birth-weight and preterm Saudi infants in the first year of life.
abstract: A retrospective hospital-based cross-sectional survey in a Saudi Arabian hospital compared the frequency of visits to hospital of low-birth-weight and normal-birth-weight infants and of preterm and full-term infants during the first year of life. A multivariate analysis of the visits for health care with birth weight, term, Apgar score, mode of delivery and sex was made for 1892 infants. The number of visits for health care was significantly higher for low-birth-weight and preterm infants. While the mode of delivery had no effect on the frequency of visits, male sex and poor Apgar score 5 minutes after birth were associated with greater frequency of visits to specialty clinics and higher rates of hospitalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primary Care, Northern Area Armed Forces Hospital, King Khalid Military City, Hafr Al Batin, Saudi Arabia. hateemco16@hotmail.com
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Al-Qahtani
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Imtiaz
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Al-Dusari
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mustafa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rafael
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001034:Apgar Score; D001724:Birth Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006772:Hospitals, Military / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution