Bajo peso al nacer: exploración de algunos factores de riesgo en el Hospital Universitario San José en Popayán (Colombia)

introduction: low birth weight (lbw) is a major public health problem and maternal-infant health indicator in developing countries. a birth weight below 2.500 g contributes towards poor short- and long-term maternal-infant health outcomes. objective: establishing risk factors for lbw in the san josé teaching hospital in popayán, colombia, 2005-2006. methods and materials: this was a case-control study. cases (n=344) were newborn (<2.500 g) who had been born in this hospital; the controls (n=483) were newborn (>2.500 g) who were born on the same day. an interview was conducted to collect information regarding risk factors from post-partum females. a logistic regression model was used for estimating risk factors by odds ratio (or) with confidence intervals (95%ci). results: having a middle/upper socio-economic class background (or=0,33; 95%ci 0,12-0,91), the newborn being female (or=0,73; 95%ci 0,55-0,98), having had more than 5 prenatal controls (or=0,54; 95%ci 0,39-0,75), having no background of previous lbw (or=0,30; 95%ci 0,15-0,58) were protective factors for lbw. having a background of urinary tract infection (or=1,78; 95% ci 1,30-2,45) and having undergone a previous caesarean section (or=1,88; 95%ci 1,13-3,16) were low birth weight risk factors. conclusion: lbw was thus seen to be associated with coming from a lower socio-economic class. interventions regarding the lack of social equity is therefore an important factor in reducing lbw in this third-level hospital's area of influence.