Incidence of Congenital Defects in Selected Areas andCountries of the World in 1988–1998

Overview

Objective:
Presentation of the incidence of selected types of birth defects in registers of birthdefects abroad and in comparison with data from the Czech Republic in 1988–1998.Design: Retrospective epidemiological analysis of the incidence of birth defects.Setting: Institute for the Care of Mother and Child, Prague.Methods: Analysis of the incidence of 15 types of selected birth defects in liveborn and stillborninfants in 1988–1998 according to published data and publications of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Monitoring Systems (ICBDMS) and European Registration of CongenitalAnomalies (EUROCAT). Comparison of the incidence of 15 selected types of congenital defectsfrom 24 registers worldwide incl. the Czech Republic.Results: In the resultant incidences of selected types of congenital defects during the presentedperiod participate geographical and ethnic differences as well as a series of other factors, inparticular primary and secondary prevention of birth defects. The influence of other biosocialfactors is assumed.Conclusion: Long-term well functioning registration of birth defects is an essential prerequisitenot only for national analyses but also for possible more detailed collaboration and analyses on aninternational scale.

Key words:
data from registers, most frequent congenital defects, regional differences in incidenceof development defects