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The effect of high altitude and other risk factors on birthweight: independent or interactive effects?
1Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Denver, USA.
Objectives:
This study examined whether the decline in birth-weight with increasing altitude is due to an independent effect of altitude or an exacerbation of other risk factors.
Methods:
Maternal, paternal, and infant characteristics were obtained from 3836 Colorado birth certificates from 1989 through 1991. Average altitude of residence for each county was determined.
Results:
None of the characteristics related to birthweight (gestational age, maternal weight gain, parity, smoking, prenatal care visits, hypertension, previous small-for-gestational-age infant, female newborn) interacted with the effect of altitude. Birthweight declined an average of 102 g per 3300 ft (1000 m) elevation when the other characteristics were taken into account, increasing the percentage of low birthweight by 54% from the lowest to the highest elevations in Colorado.
Conclusions:
High altitude acts independently from other factors to reduce birthweight and accounts for Colorado's high rate of low birthweight.