MMWR. Surveillance summaries : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries
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Comparative Study
Prevalence of spina bifida at birth--United States, 1983-1990: a comparison of two surveillance systems.
Spina bifida is a birth defect of the spinal column that is a substantial contributor to serious developmental disabilities in the United States. The risk for spina bifida and other neural tube defects (NTDs) can be reduced if women consume 0.4 mg of folic acid before and during the first trimester of pregnancy. Public health programs are being developed to prevent many NTDs by increasing the consumption of folic acid by women of childbearing age. To assess the national impact of these programs on the prevalence of NTDs at birth, multistate surveillance is needed to monitor secular trends in birth-prevalence rates. This report summarizes a collaborative effort by CDC and state birth defect surveillance programs in 16 states to a) obtain multistate, population-based data concerning the birth prevalence and descriptive epidemiology of spina bifida and b) determine the usefulness of combining state surveillance data to monitor national trends in the birth prevalence of NTDs. ⋯ CDC and state birth defects surveillance programs will use results from this analysis to monitor national trends in the birth prevalence of spina bifida in the United States. Aggregated state-based surveillance data about spina bifida, anencephaly, and other NTDs will facilitate the monitoring of changes in NTDs after implementation of programs to increase folic acid consumption by women of childbearing age.