title: [Prevalence of birth defects according to the level of care in two hospitals, Cali, Colombia, 2012-2013].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Birth defects are morphologic alterations diagnosed prenatal or postnatally. Surveillance systems have been used to estimate the prevalence in high complexity care centers; however, the variation of the prevalence among different complexity care centers remains unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the prevalence of birth defects among two different complexity care centers in Cali, Colombia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive hospital-based study following the methodology of the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations was conducted during 20 months in a medium complexity hospital and a high complexity hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 7,140 births were attended of which 225 had at least one birth defect. The prevalence of these was of 1.7% (IC95% 1.3-2.0) and 7.4% (IC95% 6.2-8.7) for the medium complexity hospital and the high complexity hospital, respectively. The highest frequencies for the high complexity care center were: ventricular septal defect, 10%; congenital hydronephrosis, 7%; abdominal wall defects, 6%, and hydrocephalus, 5%, while for the medium complexity were: polydactyly, 15%; preauricular skin tags, 8%; congenital talipes equino varus, 7%, and hemangioma, 6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of birth defects among different complexity care centers varies in quantity, type and severity of the anomaly diagnosed. The surveillance of birth defects is a useful tool for any level of care. It allows estimating more accurately the prevalence of the city, as well being a base for the planning and targeting of resources according to the prevalence of different congenital defects.
authors.affiliation: Fundación Clínica Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pachajoa
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Anomalías Congénitas y Enfermedades Raras, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Icesi.
authors.forename: Vania A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Villota
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Pediatría, Hospital San Juan de Dios, Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Luz Marina
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones en Anomalías Congénitas y Enfermedades Raras, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Icesi.
authors.forename: Yoseth
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ariza
mesh_terms: D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors