1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This [study] is the first observational study of Quebec’s population—and one of the few worldwide—that explores the benefits of prenatal intervention along the gradient of intensity of available care.» (p. 125)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We speculated that increasing the number of visits reduces the odds of an SGA [small for gestational age] birth.» (p. 122)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«This is an observational study (ecological analytic multiple-group design) of the live singleton births registered in Quebec’s registry of demographic events (Registre des événements démographiques du Québec) from April 2006 through March 2008 (n = 156 404 births). Participants’ areas of residence were determined from data on prenatal support interventions (n = 134 CLSCs [Centres locaux de services communautaires]), the Canadian census of 2001 and 2006 and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) of 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008.» (p. 122)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

Results of the study show «that mothers living in Quebec who are eligible for supplemental prenatal care programs are at a higher odds of SGA than those who are non-eligible, and that prenatal care interventions provided to women living on low income are associated with lower odds of SGA birth. In addition, we observed a strengthening of the association with increasing intensity of the interventions. However, interventions do not counteract all of the effects associated with need; eligible mothers remain at higher odds of SGA than non-eligible mothers. Nevertheless, the interventions have some effect: areas that provide high-intensity intervention (4 to 6 visits from the food supplementation program) reduce the frequency of SGA birth more successfully than those that provide low- or medium-intensity intervention.» (p. 125-126)