Research Article
Effect of Birth Interval on Foetal and Postnatal Child Growth
Table 1
Comparison of sociodemographic characteristics by study groups (N = 530).
| | Variable | N | Study groups | Test statistic chi-squared (χ2) | | Birth interval <24 months | Birth interval ≥24 months | | n (%) | n (%) |
| | Age of mother (years) | | | | | | Under 25 | 120 | 63(52.5) | 57 (47.5) | χ2 = 0.39, = 0.82 | | 25–34 | 297 | 146 (49.2) | 151 (50.8) | | 35+ | 113 | 56 (49.6) | 58 (50.4) |
| | Maternal educational level | | | | | | None | 175 | 84 (48.0) | 91 (52.0) | χ2 = 0.92, = 0.63 | | Low (primary and JHS) | 271 | 141 (52.0) | 130 (48.0) | | High (at least SHS) | 84 | 40 (47.6) | 44 (52.4) |
| | Marital status | | | | | | Married | 509 | 251 (49.3) | 258 (50.7) | χ2 = 2.43, = 0.12 | | Single | 21 | 14 (66.7) | 7 (33.3) |
| | Religion | | | | | | Islam | 78 | 41 (52.6) | 37 (47.4) | χ2 = 0.24, = 0.62 | | Christianity | 452 | 224 (49.6) | 228 (50.4) |
| | Trimester of first ANC visit | | | | | | First | 455 | 225 (49.5) | 230 (50.5) | χ2 = 0.39, = 0.53 | | Second | 75 | 40 (53.3) | 35 (46.7) |
| | Frequency of ANC visits | | | | | | Less than 4 | 40 | 23 (57.5) | 17 (42.5) | χ2 = 0.97, = 0.32 | | At least 4 | 490 | 242 (49.4) | 248 (50.6) |
| | Classification of parity | | | | | | Primiparous | 12 | 7 (58.3) | 4 (41.7) | χ2 = 7.02, = 0.03 | | Secundiparous | 206 | 117 (56.8) | 89 (43.2) | | Multiparous | 312 | 141 (54.2) | 171 (54.8) |
| | Classification of wealth index | | | | | | Low | 327 | 177 (54.1) | 150 (45.9) | χ2 = 0.29, = 0.59 | | High | 203 | 105 (51.7) | 98 (48.3) |
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