Low Birth Weight Rate

Methodology

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Identifying Information

Name

Low Birth Weight Rate (<2,500 Grams, Excluding <500 Grams)

Short/Other Names

Not applicable

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.

Interpretation

Lower rates for this indicator are desirable.

HSP Framework Dimension

Health system outcomes: Improve health status of Canadians

Areas of Need

Not applicable

Targets/Benchmarks

Not applicable

Availability of Results

Available Data Years

2001 to 2022 (fiscal years)

Geographic Coverage

All provinces/territories

Reporting Level/Disaggregation

National

Result Updates

Indicator Results

Web Tool:
Quick Stats

Update Frequency

Every year

Latest Results Update Date

February 2024

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) × 100

Unit of Analysis: Discharge from acute care facilities

Type of Measurement

Rate - Rate per 100

Denominator

Description:

Number of live newborns with a birth weight greater than or equal to 500 grams

Inclusions:

ICD-10-CA in-hospital birth codes:
1. Any one diagnosis code of Z38.0, Z38.3 or Z38.6 coded in any position

Exclusions:

Non-newborn records
Cadaveric donors
Weight <500 grams
Invalid birth weight (Weight = blank, 0000, 0001 or ZZZZ)
ICD-10-CA abortion or out-of-hospital birth codes:
1. 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

Inclusions:

Weight <2,500 grams

Exclusions:

Same as denominator (numerator is a subset of the denominator)

Method of Adjustment

Not applicable

Adjustment Applied

None

Geographic Assignment

Place of residence

Data Sources

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.

Comments

For more information about this indicator, please refer to Hospital stays in Canada.

References

Not applicable