Prenatal tests in Brazil: prevalence and associated factors according to the Brazilian National Health Survey.
Francisca Maria da Silva Freitas, Rita Da Graça Carvalhal Frazão Correia, Camila Biazus-Dalcin and 3 others
PMID 39869759WHAT IT FOUND
Brazilian pregnant women reported more syphilis and HIV testing from 2013 to 2019, but less blood and urine testing.
Having all four tests together rose to 69.9%, leaving many without all recommended prenatal tests.
Key findings
01The share of pregnant women reporting all four prenatal tests together rose from 60.0% in 2013 to 69.9% in 2019.
02After adjustment, women in 2019 had a 13% greater chance of undergoing the tests (PR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.07-1.20), with adjusted gains for syphilis (PR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.15-1.27) and HIV (PR = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.03-1.06).
03Adjusted access to blood tests (PR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.96-0.98) and urine tests (PR = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.94-0.96) was lower in 2019 than in 2013.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Women self-reported the tests, so recall and information bias are possible. The wording of the blood and urine test questions changed between the 2013 and 2019 surveys, which may have affected responses. The survey did not specify which blood or urine tests were done, such as fasting blood glucose, complete blood count or serology. Only women who had received prenatal care were included, so the results do not describe women without prenatal care. The study is cross-sectional, so it describes reported testing at two time points rather than showing that any service change caused the differences.
Declared interests
Funded by CAPES and the Brazilian National Program for Academic Cooperation in the Amazon (Procad Amazônia); no competing interests were declared in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 2019 increase as evidence that prenatal testing became more complete or that a policy caused it. The data are self-reported, and the wording of the blood and urine test questions changed between surveys, which may have reduced reported testing.