Using classification trees to assess low birth weight outcomes

摘要

ObjectiveLow birth weight (LBW) is a major public health problem. Compared to normal weight infants, LBW is positively associated with infant mortality and negatively associated with normative childhood cognitive and physical development. In the past two decades, research has identified important risk factors of LBW. In this study, we used classification trees to study the interactive nature of these factors. In particular we: (1) identify subgroups of women who are at a high risk of a LBW outcome in seven geographical regions of Florida, and (2) study the predictive performance of classification trees by comparing the tree-based results to those obtained using logistic regression.