The Kola Birth Registry and perinatal mortality in Mončegorsk, Russia

• Published in: Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
• Main Authors: Vaktskjold, Arild, Talykova, Ljudmila, Chashchin, Valerij, Nieboer, Evert, Odland, Jon Øyvind
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: North-Western Russia
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0412.2004.00335.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0412.2004.00335.x; https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0412.2004.00335.x

Background. A population‐based birth registry has been set up for the Arctic town of Mončegorsk in north‐western Russia. In this investigation, the quality and the content of the registry are assessed and the perinatal mortality (PM) rates in the period 1973–97 estimated. Material and method. Enrollment in the Kola Birth Registry (KBR) involved the retrospective inclusion of all births with at least 28 weeks of gestation in Mončegorsk in the period 1973–97. The data in the registry were assessed for data entry errors, completeness of data and population coverage. The annual PM rates were estimated for live‐ and stillborns with at least 28 weeks of gestation. Results. The KBR contains detailed information about the newborn, delivery, pregnancy and mother for 21 214 births by women from Mončegorsk, covering at least 96% of all the births by the population in the period studied. No records were missing data for gender and birth date of the newborn, and more than 99.9% of the records contained data about gestational age and birthweight. Data concerning the mothers' employment were missing in 0.4% of the records. The annual PM rate fell from more than 20 to less than 10 deaths per 1000 births during this period. Conclusion. The KBR provides an extensive data source useful for case‐control and register‐based prospective studies, and constitutes the first such compilation in Russia. The homogeneity of the population in Mončegorsk makes it advantageous for epidemiological investigations. The PM rate in Mončegorsk was lower than the overall rate in Russia.