[Congenital anomalies from the perspective of social determinants of health].

The objective of this study was to analyze factors associated with cases of congenital anomalies from the perspective of social determinants of health in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This is a case-control study with all the pairs of mothers and liveborn infants from 2012 to 2015 in the state, based on the total number of liveborn infants with congenital anomalies (5,250) and a random sample of 21,000 without congenital anomalies, according to data on the live birth certificates. The statistical analyses included chi-square tests and logistic regression models with SPSS. The Dahlgren & Whitehead model was used as the basis for grouping and discussing the variables. In the multivariate model, all the variables that were significantly associated with the outcome were in the sense of increasing the odds of births with congenital anomalies: black women had 20% higher odds than white women (OR = 1.20; p-value = 0.013); age over 40 years increased the odds by 97% when compared to women 18 to 29 years of age; women with less than four years of schooling showed 50% higher odds when compared to women with 12 or more years of schooling (OR = 1.50; p-value = 0.001); women with no prenatal visits had 97% higher odds than women with seven or more prenatal visits (OR = 1.97; p-value = 0.001); and prior history of miscarriages/stillbirths increased the odds by 17% (OR = 1.17; p-value = 0.001). The results raise the issue of racial and social inequalities, related to health inequities.