"Identifying Information: Name","Low Birth Weight Rate (<2,500 Grams, Excluding <500 Grams)"
"Identifying Information: Short/Other Names","Not applicable"
"Identifying Information: Description","Crude low birth weight rate (<2,500 grams, excluding <500 grams)"
"Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks: Rationale","Low birth weight can add to length of hospital stays and health care costs. Over the fiscal years, these rates have continued to vary among provinces and territories. Given this variability, this indicator can be used to inform government planners, policy-makers, health system decision-makers, health care providers, patients and the general public. It can help raise awareness and allow Canada to compare its rates with the rates of other countries."
"Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks: Interpretation","Lower rates for this indicator are desirable."
"Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks: HSP Framework Dimension","Improve health status of Canadians"
"Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks: Areas of Need","Not applicable"
"Background, Interpretation and Benchmarks: Targets/Benchmarks","Not applicable"
"Available Data Years","2001
 to 2022"
"Available Data Years: Type of Year",Fiscal
"Availability of Results: Geographic Coverage","All provinces/territories"
"Reporting Level/Disaggregation",National
"Result Updates: Indicator Results","Web Tool:Quick Stats"
"Update Frequency","Every year"
"Result Updates: Latest Results Update Date","February 2024"
"Result Updates: Updates","As of 2015–2016, the national results include non-residents of Canada."
"Indicator Calculation: Description","Rate = (Number of live newborns with a birth weight between 500 grams and 2,499 grams, inclusive) ÷ (Number of live newborns with a birth weight greater than or equal to 500 grams) × 100Unit of Analysis: Discharge from acute care facilities"
"Indicator Calculation: Type of Measurement",Rate
"Indicator Calculation: Number or Rate","Rate per 100"
"Denominator: Description:","Number of live newborns with a birth weight greater than or equal to 500 grams"
"Denominator: Inclusions:","ICD-10-CA in-hospital birth codes:Any one diagnosis code of Z38.0, Z38.3 or Z38.6 coded in any position"
"Denominator: Exclusions:","Non-newborn recordsCadaveric donorsWeight <500 gramsInvalid birth weight (Weight = blank, 0000, 0001 or ZZZZ)ICD-10-CA abortion or out-of-hospital birth codes:Any one diagnosis code of P96.4, Z38.1, Z38.2, Z38.4, Z38.5, Z38.7 or Z38.8 coded in any diagnosis field"
"Numerator: Description:","Number of live newborns with a birth weight between 500 grams and 2,499 grams, inclusive"
"Numerator: Inclusions:","Weight <2,500 grams"
"Numerator: Exclusions:","Same as denominator (numerator is a subset of the denominator)"
"Method of Adjustment","Not applicable"
"Adjustment Applied",None
"Indicator Calculation: Geographic Assignment","Place of residence"
"Data Sources",DAD
"Quality Statement: Caveats and Limitations","In order to provide a more stable rate estimate, only data from regions with a population of at least 75,000 (from 2001–2002 to 2005–2006) or 50,000 (from 2006–2007 to 2014–2015) was reported. Additional indications for suppression were rate instability and under-reporting. As of 2015–2016, regions are not suppressed based on population; instead, the following suppression methodology is used:Suppression due to privacy: To ensure privacy, a suppression rule is applied to all clinical indicator results. Numerators and/or denominators between 1 and 4 are suppressed.Suppression due to unstable results: Unstable indicator results are suppressed. In general, these are indicator results with a denominator between 1 and 49."
"Quality Statement: Trending Issues","Refer to the Important notes in Hospitalization and Childbirth Quick Stats Metadata (PDF)"
"Quality Statement: Comments","For more information about this indicator, please refer to Hospital stays in Canada."
References,"Not applicable"