Discontinuity indices: a tool for epidemiological studies on breastfeeding.
Int J Epidemiol
; 24(5): 965-9, 1995 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-8557454
ABSTRACT
PIP: The Discontinuity Index (DI), which measures the percentage of infants who were exclusively breastfed (EBF) at the beginning of a given age interval and had abandoned this mode of feeding at its end, and the relative weigh of this discontinuation, was introduced and employed in the National Survey on Breast Feeding and Infant Feeding Practices carried out in Cuba in 1990. The aim of this article is to illustrate, through a specific example, the quality of DI as a simple procedure for assessing breastfeeding trends. The prevalence of EBF in the 14 provinces of Cuba at discharge from the maternity services and at 30, 60, 120, and 180 days of age, was obtained using data from a national sample of 6661 infants (4820 urban and 1791 rural) which were processed by means of a logistic regression model. Cumulative DIs were calculated for the intervals 0-30, 0-60, 0-120, and 0-180 days, and partial DIs for the terms 30-60, 60-120, and 120--180 days for each province and for the whole country. Cumulative DIs showed the progress of cessation of breastfeeding and were strongly influenced by previous intervals. The eastern provinces showed the lowest figures at most of the terms, and the opposite occurred in the central and western ones. Discontinuation during the first month of life was particularly high in the city of Havana and Matanzas, two western provinces. At 4 months, 74.9% of all the infants who started EBF had abandoned it. DIs were above 99% in two western provinces, Pinar del Rio and Matanzas, whereas the national mean for this age was 90.6%. Partial DI (between 2 given ages) were more specific and allowed discrimination of the intervals at which EBF discontinuation was more frequent. The highest values were observed between 4 and 6 months. Only the city of Havana showed the highest DI between 2 and 4 months. Discontinuity Indices are useful complements to prevalence rates in epidemiological studies of breastfeeding.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Aleitamento Materno
/
Modelos Logísticos
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Inquéritos Epidemiológicos
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
/
Infant
País/Região como assunto:
Caribe
/
Cuba
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Epidemiol
Ano de publicação:
1995
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Cuba
País de publicação:
Reino Unido