title: [Identification of city areas with an urgent need for early help in Munich: presentation of a new procedure on the basis of data on regional social structures and on the health risks of newborn babies].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Germany, it is forbidden by law to physically punish children or to harm them mentally. Breaking these rules can result in severe health problems for the children. Home visiting programmes for families with young children are aimed at supporting young families who are facing large social problems, and at enhancing the chances of their children to grow up in a healthy way. Maps showing the regional distribution of the need for these home visiting programmes could be an important tool for local health policy planning. They could help to focus the resources on those families who are in greatest need.
  
  
  METHODS
  The method proposed here for developing such a regional map is based on the following steps: (a) search for data that indicate the potential for child neglect, maltreatment or abuse, and that are available for each zip code in the city of Munich, Germany; (b) based on these data, calculation of a summary score that could indicate high need for these home visits; (c) grouping of the zip code areas according to this score; (d) presentation of the regional distribution in a map.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After inspecting different data sources, we could identify 5 variables that could indicate the need for these home visits and that are available for each zip code: index of purchasing power, percentage of the population with low education, percentage of the population with migration background, percentage of single mothers, percentage of new-borns with low birth weight (<2 500 g). If 'high need' is defined as 'upper quintile of at least 3 among the 5 variables listed above, about 1 087 newborn babies would have to be visited per year (i. e., 10% of all newborn infants in Munich).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These home visits should be as little stigmatising as possible, and especially those families should be reached that are in greatest need. If it is not possible to reach all families in the community, it can be recommended to focus on city districts with a high percentage of families in greatest need. As far as we know, this is the first scientifically based method for such a definition of city districts. The method proposed here could serve as starting point, and it would be important to develop it further. It is very flexible, though, and it can easily be transferred to other cities or districts.
authors: Klinik und Poliklinik für Frauenheilkunde und Geburtshilfe der LMU München, München.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Vogel
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Schunk
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Lack
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Mielck
mesh_terms: D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D020954:Single-Parent Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*