© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
RESEARCH REPORT
Household crowding index: a correlate of socioeconomic status and inter-pregnancy spacing in an urban setting
1 Department of Paediatrics, Hotel Dieu de France Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
2 Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
3 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut
4 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr K A Yunis
Department of Paediatrics, American University of Beirut, New York Office, 850 3rd Avenue 18th Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA; kayunis{at}aub.edu.lb
Objectives: This paper examines the effect of household crowding on inter-pregnancy spacing and its association with socioeconomic indicators, among parous mothers delivered in an urban environment.
Design: Cross sectional survey.
Methods: Sociodemographic data were obtained on 2466 parous women delivering at eight hospitals in Greater Beirut over a one year period. Statistical methodology comprised Pearson 
2 test and logistic regression analysis.
Main results: A significant inverse relation was observed between household crowding and socioeconomic status, defined as education and occupation of women and their spouses. Inter-pregnancy spacing increased with higher levels of crowding. Further analysis suggested that this positive association was confounded by maternal demographic characteristics.
Conclusions: These data have shown that household crowding, a correlate of low parental socioeconomic status, is associated with longer birth intervals. This association, however, seems to be largely explained by maternal age and parity.
Keywords: crowding index; socioeconomic status; spacing
Abbreviations: NCPNN, National Collaborative Perinatal Neonatal Network; HCI, household crowding index
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J Epidemiol Community Health 2004 58: 437.
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