The Wellness of Expected Child - Essay Example

? of Institute] of Discipline] ‘Statistics Project’ Health experts have emphasized upon the well-being of the expectant mother’s health and welfare and have related it directly to the wellness of her expected child. In some situations it has been observed that though the baby may have been born at full time but still the weight of the baby is lower than the average weight of babies born at full term. What may be the specific reasons for the lessening of the birth weight may be related to the mother’s activities or health status. The present study is aimed at statistically analyzing this fact. Along with the status of the health of the expectant mother the study also discusses the effects of ethnic background of the mother on the expected child. With respect to the threats to the expected baby’s health one of the basic factors that is bought into consideration is the tendency of the expectant mother to smoke. Whether this habit of the expectant mother has any effects on the health and growth of the baby-to-be would be investigated via the performance of some statistical tests on relevant data. The findings of the analysis would be assessed with respect to their global implications. It has also been noted that birth weight of babies varies from that of one ethnic group to another. The practicality of this implication along with the analysis of the effect that whether this factor, added with the factor of smoking in expectant mothers is inter related or not is intended to be analyzed. 1. INTRODUCTION The factors affecting the growth and wellness of a baby growing in a mother’s womb have for long been investigated. Research has prompted health experts to associate the low birth weights of newborn babies with a number of factors. These factors may be the suffering of the expectant mother from disease like high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, drinking of excessive alcohol or smoking excessively. Previous studies have focused on several factors regulating them individually and assessing what their effects may be on the baby that is yet to be born. The fact that whether ‘low birth weight’ of babies is associated with any of the affects mentioned effects would also be assessed. Two of these factors that have been chosen for further research and study currently are: Does ethnic background of mother affect her baby? Does smoking by the expectant mother effect the baby? Previous studies in the same regard have shown interesting results. Many a researchers have looked up the statistics regarding this topic. Sala, Matheus and Lopes (2006) state in their titled ‘Influence of Ethnicity on the Human Term Placenta’ that the native mothers had more tendency to accommodate any capillary changes in the placentas of mothers-to-be for the growing baby as compared to mothers belonging to other ethnic backgrounds. Low Birth Weight Issue Low Birth Weight is often considered as a very serious issue with respect to newborns due to a number of complications that such babies face. These may include the tendency of such babies to be susceptible to infections as their immune system may not be very well developed. Serious health problems such as breathing difficulties, jaundice and heart problems are just a few of the factors that babies born having low birth weight may have to face. In some cases these babies may also suffer “from internal bleeding (bleeding in the brain), very thick blood (polycythaemia) or excessive red blood cells in the blood, low body temperature, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), intestinal problems, vision problems, etc.” (Buzzle, 2012). The mortality weight of babies having low birth weights is also very high. Studies have shown that later on in life babies that have been born with low birth weight are very likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes and obesity. It is owing to all these important factors that the causes leading to low birth weight should be figured out and analyzed. CURRENT DOMAIN OF STUDY Keeping in mind the earlier done researches and the introduction of the problem at hand it has been aimed that the current domain of research would be spanned over a number of factors. The following domain would be attempted to be analyzed: The finding of the birth weights of babies belonging to different ethnic groups The finding that whether the babies of smoking and non-smoking mothers weight the same or not Having done the above two comparisons it would be assessed that whether smoking and ethnic grouping both have any effect on the birth weight of the newborn or not. If there exists any relationship between the birth weight of the baby and the weight of the mother, that would also be analyzed. Studying whether smoking and non-smoking mothers have differences in their birth weights Comparing the weights of mother belonging to different ethnic groups. Having analyzed and studies all the above factors it is intended that the actual birth weight affecting factors would be narrated. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1 EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS Data Description The sample size consists of 189 observations. The details of 4 data variables are as follows, Lwt: the weight of the mother (in lbs). This variable consists of numeric values with zero decimal places. The measure selected in SPSS is scale. Ethnic groups: white/black/other (1, 2, 3). The type of variable is numeric and with three specific values the ordinal measure is selected. Smoke: whether the mother was a smoker during pregnancy (n/y=0,1). This is a bi state numeric variable with nominal measure. Bwt: the actual birth weight of the baby (grams). This variable contains numeric Integer values. The measure selected in SPSS is scale. Descriptive Statistics Descriptive Statistics N Range Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Variance Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Statistic MothersWeight 189 170 80 250 130.45 2.246 30.871 953.015 Valid N (listwise) 189 Table 2.1.1: Descriptive Statistics related to Mothers’ Weight The above mentioned table number 2.1.1 shows the trends in the data related to the weight of the mothers who have been chosen for providing their data with respect to their weights. The mean reading of the provided data has been found to be equal to µ = 130.45. Similarly the value of the standard deviation or the measure of dispersion is ? = 30.871. Descriptive Statistics N Range Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Variance Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Statistic BirthWeight 189 3458 1135 4593 2976.86 48.677 669.194 447820.279 Valid N (listwise) 189 Table 2.1.2: Descriptive Statistics related to BirthWeight of Infants. The above mentioned table number 2.1.2 shows the trends in the data related to the birth weight of the infants whose mothers have been chosen for providing their data with respect to their weights. The mean reading of the provided data has been found to be equal to µ = 2976.86. Similarly the value of the standard deviation or the measure of dispersion is ? = 669.194. HISTOGRAMS Figure2.1.1. Histogram for Mothers’ Weight With the µ = 130.45, Median = 122 and Mode = 120, the above mentioned histogram exhibits left skewed normal curve for the data sample of mothers’ weight. Figure 2.1.2: Histograms for Birth Weight of Babies With the µ = 2976.86, Median = 2977 and Mode = 3062, the above mentioned histogram exhibits a little irregular normal distribution for the data sample of birth weights of babies. Upon initial study of the given data, the following queries arise. Query 1: Whether there is a significant impact of ethnicity of mother on the birth weights of babies or not? Query 2: Whether the birth weights of infants of smoking mothers varied from those of nonsmoking mothers? Query 3: Whether the birth weight of babies is affected by the ethnicity and/or smoking of the mother? Query 4: Whether the weight of the babies is related to that of their mothers’? 2.2 STATISTICAL INFERENCE FOR HYPOTHESIS TESTING QUERY 1 The significance regarding impact of ethnicity of mother on birth weights of babies can be tested through Analysis Of Variance for birth weight under the factor of smoking status of mother. Table 2.2.1 and Table 2.2.2 indicate the respective Descriptive Statistics and ANOVA with accompanying figures 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 showing box plot and mean plot respectively. BirthWeight N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval for Mean Minimum Maximum Lower Bound Upper Bound White 99 3116.73 649.376 65.265 2987.21 3246.24 1885 4593 Black 27 2771.78 604.767 116.388 2532.54 3011.02 1135 3860 Other 63 2844.97 686.119 86.443 2672.17 3017.77 1474 4054 Total 189 2976.86 669.194 48.677 2880.84 3072.89 1135 4593 Table 2.2.1: Descriptive Statistics regarding Birth Weights of Babies under the factor of Mother’s Ethnicity ANOVA BirthWeight Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Between Groups 4168220.184 2 2084110.092 4.844 .009 Within Groups 8.002E7 186 430225.765 Total 8.419E7 188 Table 2.2.2: Birth Weights of Babies under the factor of Mother’s Ethnicity With p-value < 0.05 (Sig = 0.009), the ANOVA presented in Table 2.2.2 indicates significant impact of mother’s ethnic background on the birth weight of baby. Following figures 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 assert the findings as well. Figure 2.2.1: Mean plot of Ethnicity and Birth Weight of Babies Figure 2.2.1: Box plot of Ethnicity and Birth Weight of Babies QUERY 2 To test the variation of birth weights of infants between smoking and non-smoking mothers, an Independent Samples t-test is conducted. Table 2.2.3 highlights the respective Group Statistics while Table 2.2.4 indicates the results of after the test. Smoker N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean BirthWeight No 111 3062.79 685.080 65.025 Yes 78 2854.58 630.166 71.352 Table 2.2.3: Group Statistics Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper BirthWeight Equal variances assumed .501 .480 2.126 187 .035 208.216 97.960 14.967 401.464 Equal variances not assumed 2.157 173.999 .032 208.216 96.537 17.682 398.750 Table 2.2.4 : Independent Samples Test With p-value < 0.05 (Sig = 0.032) the significant difference between the averages of birth weights of babies for the respective groups of smoker mothers and non-smoker mothers is evident. The following figure 2.2.3 contains the related box plot that asserts the findings. Figure 2.2.3: Box plot of Birth Weights of Babies with respect to the two groups of smoker and non-smoker mothers. THE FINDINGS Descriptive Measures: Lwt by Smoke Variable smoke N Mean Median Tr Mean StDev SE Mean lwt 0 111 130.39 123.00 127.95 28.85 2.74 1 78 130.54 121.00 127.79 33.73 3.82 Variable smoke Min Max Q1 Q3 lwt 0 85.00 241.00 110.00 141.00 1 80.00 250.00 108.75 147.00 Two sample T for lwt smoke N Mean StDev SE Mean 0 111 130.4 28.8 2.7 1 78 130.5 33.7 3.8 95% CI for mu (0) - mu (1): ( -9.4, 9.1) T-Test mu (0) = mu (1) (vs not =): T= -0.03 P=0.97 DF= 148 The p-value is indicating that there is no significant difference in LWT for smokers and non-smokers. LWT by Ethnic: Variable ethnic N Mean Median Tr Mean StDev SE Mean lwt 1 99 132.40 130.00 130.55 29.61 2.98 2 27 148.85 130.00 147.20 37.98 7.31 3 63 119.49 119.00 117.53 24.97 3.15 Variable ethnic Min Max Q1 Q3 lwt 1 90.00 235.00 110.00 147.00 2 98.00 241.00 120.00 182.00 3 80.00 250.00 105.00 130.00 Analysis of Variance for lwt Source DF SS MS F P ethnic 2 17086 8543 9.80 0.000 Error 186 162081 871 Total 188 179167 Individual 95% CIs For Mean Based on Pooled StDev Level N Mean StDev ------+---------+---------+---------+ 1 99 132.40 29.61 (---*---) 2 27 148.85 37.98 (------*-------) 3 63 119.49 24.97 (----*----) ------+---------+---------+---------+ Pooled StDev = 29.52 120 135 150 165 ANOVA and the box-plot is indicating the significant difference b/w averages of LWT with respect to different ethnic groups. Fisher's pairwise comparisons Family error rate = 0.122 Individual error rate = 0.0500 Critical value = 1.973 Intervals for (column level mean) - (row level mean) 1 2 2 64 626 3 63 -371 480 224 We can deduce that the 1st and 2nd averages, 1st and 3rd averages are significantly different and 2nd and 3rd averages are significantly same as the signs of interval are not like. Regression b/w LWT and BWT The above mentioned scatter is not showing any association with a very low value of correlation i.e. 0.188. It shows that the LWT seems independent from BWT. So we cannot go for the further regression analysis procedure as it will give us a very low value of R2 (coefficient of determination) which is 3.5%. Following are the results of weak regression: The regression equation is bwt = 2444 + 4.08 lwt Predictor Coef StDev T P Constant 2444.1 208.7 11.71 0.000 lwt 4.084 1.557 2.62 0.009 S = 659.0 R-Sq = 3.5% R-Sq(adj) = 3.0% Analysis of Variance Source DF SS MS F P Regression 1 2988493 2988493 6.88 0.009 Error 187 81201720 434234 Total 188 84190212 RESULTS: Birth weights of babies between different ethnic groups show significant variations. The birth weight of mothers does not affect the birth weight of the babies. Birth weight of Babies of smoking mothers is significantly different from those of non smoking mothers. REFERENCES:  A.C. Gomes Premoli, M.A. Sala, M. Matheus, R.A. Lopes: Influence Of Ethnicity On The Human Term Placenta. The Internet Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics. 2006 Volume 6 Number 1 Buzzle 2012. What are the risks of low birth weight. [Online] Viewed 19 March 2012. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/what-are-the-risks-of-low-birth-weight.html Statgraphics. 2006. Time Series Analysis and Forecasting. [Online] Viewed 17 March 2012. http://www.statlets.com/time_series_analysis.htm Dr. Arsham 2012. Time Critical Decision Making for Business Administration. [Online] Viewed 17 March 2012, http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/stat-data/forecast.htm GEORGE, D., & MALLERY, P. (2010). SPSS for Windows step by step: a simple guide and reference, 17.0 update. Boston, Allyn & Bacon. BERKMAN, E. T., & REISE, S. P. (2012). A conceptual guide to statistics using SPSS. Los Angeles, Sage. Messecar, DC 2001, 'Smoking Cessation Interventions for Pregnant Women to Prevent Low Birth Weight: What Does the Evidence Show?', Journal Of The American Academy Of Nurse Practitioners, 13, 4, p. 171, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 23 March 2012. Visscher, W, Feder, M, Burns, A, Brady, T, & Bray, R 2003, 'The Impact of Smoking and Other Substance Use by Urban Women on the Birthweight of Their Infants', Substance Use & Misuse, 38, 8, p. 1063, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 23 March 2012. Read More