RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Durations of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and predominant breastfeeding (PBF) from two different assessments, among the same mother-infant population, were investigated to determine the degree to which the assessments yielded overlapping results. METHODS: Thirty Ugandan mother-infant pairs were followed up weekly from birth to three months of age with weekly short-time feeding recall: the 24-hour recall asked prior to the 1-week recall. In addition, at week 6 and 12 dietary recalls since-birth were conducted. Variables for the duration of EBF and PBF were created from the short-time feeding recalls and the dietary recalls since-birth, respectively. Mean durations of EBF and PBF from the two assessments were compared with Kaplan Meier analysis at week 6 and 12. Reproducibility of dietary recall instruments was also assessed. RESULTS: At six weeks postpartum the mean durations of EBF were 0.50 weeks (95% CI: 0, 1.02) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 1.51 weeks (95% CI: 0.66, 2.35) according to the recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox test, p = 0.049). The mean durations of PBF were 4.07 weeks (95% CI: 3.38, 4.77) according to the frequent short-time recalls and 4.50 weeks (95% CI: 3.93, 5.07) according to the recall since-birth, (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.82). At twelve weeks the mean durations of EBF were 0.5 weeks (95% CI: 0, 1.1) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 1.4 weeks (95% CI: 0.1, 2.7) according to the recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.15). The mean durations of PBF were 5.2 weeks (95% CI: 3.9, 6.5) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 6.6 weeks (95% CI: 5.4, 7.8) according to recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.20). Reports of feeding categories and early feeding practices showed high reproducibility. CONCLUSION: Comparing duration of EBF and PBF in this group of mother-infant pairs showed overlapping results from the weekly short-time assessment and the recall since-birth at twelve weeks, with the latter yielding slightly longer duration of the respective feeding modalities. The retrospective recall since-birth could be assessed as a cost-reducing tool compared to the frequent follow-up addressing duration of respective infant feeding modalities for evaluation of programmes promoting safer infant feeding practices. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was part of formative studies for the ongoing study PROMISE EBF registered at http://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00397150.
RESUMO
Las estadísticas de centros de atención de salud son la fuente principal de datos sobre el peso al nacer en los países en desarrollo, si bien en la mayor parte de esos países no se producen estimaciones anuales de la incidencia de bajo peso al nacer a partir de esos datos. Si se produjeran, las estimaciones serían propensas al sesgo de selección ya que los datos están limitados en general a los niños nacidos en centros de salud y, por lo tanto, representan un subgrupo decididamente diferente de la población general de neonatos. Desde 1990, el programa de Encuestas Demográficas y de Salud ha realizado 15 encuestas nacionales en las que se incluyeron preguntas sobre el peso y el tamaño relativo al nacer tal como los recordaban las madres. Este artículo muestra que las encuestas transversales pueden constituir una fuente útil de datos para estimar la media nacional de peso al nacer y la incidencia de bajo peso. Sin embargo, la clasificación errónea del peso al nacer es demasiado extensa para emplear los datos de tamaño relativo al nacer como indicador de bajo peso a escala individual
