Duration of maternal breast-feeding in the Dominican Republic Duración de la lactancia materna en la República Dominicana
The study reported here explored the influence of maternal, health care, pregnancy, and child-related factors upon the duration of total breast-feeding (DTBF) in the Dominican Republic. The data for the study, which included 1984 mother-child pairs representative of the Dominican population, came fr...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Pan American Health Organization
1997-02-01
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Series: | Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública |
Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49891997000200003 |
Summary: | The study reported here explored the influence of maternal, health care, pregnancy, and child-related factors upon the duration of total breast-feeding (DTBF) in the Dominican Republic. The data for the study, which included 1984 mother-child pairs representative of the Dominican population, came from the National Health Survey of 1991. The child in each of the mother-child pairs was the mother's last-born child who had been breast-fed and was less than 3 years of age at the time of the survey. Interviews with the mothers were used to collect information about the duration of breast-feeding and the factors studied (including maternal age, urban/rural residence, parity, mother's socioeconomic status, maternal education, maternal employment, mother's desire for pregnancy, type of delivery, place of delivery, the type of health worker attending the delivery, the child's sex, the child's birth weight, the time elapsed between delivery and initiation of breast-feeding, the child's age at complete weaning, and the child's age at the time of the survey). The child's risk of complete weaning at different ages was calculated using the life table method, and the independent effect of each of the study variables was estimated using Cox's regression model. The median DTBF was 7 months. The risk that a child would be completely weaned (the relative rate of complete weaning, or RRCW) was found to be higher among children who received foods other than breast milk and water while still breast-feeding (RRCW = 8.56; 95% CI = 4.25-17.20), whose mothers had some university education (RRCW = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.24-1.77), who began breast-feeding a day or more after delivery (RRCW = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.11-1.40), who were born in either public health institutions (RRCW = 1.62; 95% CI = 1.24-2.11) or private health institutions (RRCW = 2.19; 95% CI = 1.65-2.91), and who were the first-born of mothers with low socioeconomic status (RRCW = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.45-2.24). According to the study results, the country's breast-feeding programs should give special attention to mothers with university educations, those giving birth in private health facilities, and those with low socioeconomic status giving birth to their first child, since these groups tended to breast-feed their children for relatively short periods of time. Also, breast-feeding promotion strategies should stress the importance of delaying the introduction of foods other than breast milk into the child's diet, as this appears to be the one factor having the greatest adverse effect on the duration of breast-feeding.<br>En el presente estudio se reanalizaron los datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud de la República Dominicana, realizada en 1991, con el fin de identificar las características sociodemográficas, de la atención médica, del embarazo y el niño que influyen sobre la duración de la lactancia materna total (DLMT). Se estudió una muestra de 1 984 parejas madre-hijo representativa de la población nacional. De los hijos de cada madre, solo se incluyó al último niño nacido vivo, que era amamantado y menor de 3 años de edad en el momento de la encuesta. Los datos sobre la DLMT y los factores estudiados se recabaron entrevistando a las madres (incluidos la edad, tipo de residencia, paridad, nivel socioeconómico, educación, empleo y deseo de procrear de la madre, tipo de parto y lugar en que se produjo, tipo de trabajador de la salud que lo atendió, sexo y peso al nacer del hijo, tiempo transcurrido entre el parto y el inicio de la lactancia materna, y edad del niño al cesar la lactancia y en el momento de realizarse la encuesta). El riesgo de haber sido destetado a distintas edades se calculó por el método de la tabla de vida y el efecto independiente de cada variable de interés se estimó por medio de un modelo de regresión de Cox. La duración mediana de la lactancia materna total fue 7 meses y la tasa relativa de destete (TRD) fue más alta en los niños ablactados (TRD = 8,56; IC95%: 4,25-17,20), los de madres universitarias (TRD = 1,48; IC95%: 1,24-1,77), los que comenzaron a mamar tardíamente (TRD = 1,25; IC95%: 1,11-1,40), los que nacieron en instituciones públicas (TRD = 1,62; IC95%: 1,24-2,11) y privadas (TRD = 2,19; IC95%: 1,65-2,91), y en los de madres primíparas de nivel socioeconómico bajo (TRD = 1,80; IC95%: 1,45-2,24). Los programas de lactancia materna del país deben prestar especial atención a las madres con educación universitaria, a las que dan a luz en hospitales privados y a las primíparas de nivel socioeconómico bajo, ya que estas mujeres tienden a amamantar a sus hijos durante períodos relativamente cortos. Dentro de las estrategias de los programas de promoción de la lactancia materna habría que subrayar la importancia que reviste el retraso de la ablactación, pues este parece ser el factor que mayor impacto ejerce en la duración de la lactancia materna. |
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ISSN: | 1020-4989 1680-5348 |