SMALL-AREA ANALYSIS OF LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT

Birthweight is a broad indicator of health and socio-economic developm ent in a population. This study was designed to examine small area pat terns in the incidence of low birthweight in Dublin for the years 1986 -89 and to explore the relationship between low birthweight and socio- economic factors. A number of district electoral divisions with a sign ificantly raised incidence of low birthweight were identified. These w ere mainly in areas with a high proportion of local authority housing. There was significant positive correlation between the incidence of l ow birthweight and male unemployment, percentage of population in soci al classes 5 & 6 and proportion of population covered by medical cards , and a significant negative correlation with percentage of population in social classes 1 & 2 and number of cars per house. Forward stepwis e multiple regression showed that the proportion of population covered by medical cards was the best predictor of low birthweight, but it on ly explained 22% of the total variance. These findings are consistent with previous work published in the international literature and provi de evidence of an association between socio-economic disadvantage and poor health in Dublin.