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Accuracy of Syrain Refugee Mothers’ Perceptions of Newborn’s Birth Size: Insights from a National Survey in Turkey

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Abstract

This study aims to assess the accuracy of maternally perceived birth size and its associated factors among the Syrian refugees in Turkey, using the data from 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey Syrian Migrant Sample (TDHS-SM-18). The study includes information on the last-born child, singleton pregnancies, births in healthcare facilities, children under 5 living with their mothers, with recorded birth weight (n = 969). The study categorizes the mother’s perception of size into three groups : compatible, overestimated, and underestimated. Various factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, financial aspects, maternal characteristics, and child characteristics, are considered as explanatory variables. The analysis employs a complex sample multiple logistic regression model. The findings reveal that the majority of mothers accurately perceive the birth size, but 17.1% of them do not. Maternal factors such as region of residence, literacy, occupation, age at birth, and child factors such as birth order, birth interval, gender, and birth weight are identified as associated factors with maternal misperception. This study provides valuable insights into the accuracy of maternally perceived birth size and sheds light on the factors influencing this perception among Syrian refugee mothers in Turkey.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available and can be requested from the Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies (https://tnsaveri005ftdhsdata.hacettepe.edu.tr002frequest.php).

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Funding

The current study received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. No other entity besides the authors had a role in the design, analysis or writing of the current article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Siddika Songül Yalcin

  2. Departmant of Social Pediatrics, Institute of Child Health, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Refia Gözdenur Savcı

  3. Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey

    Suzan Yalcin

  4. Institute of Population Studies, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Mehmet Ali Eryurt

Authors
  1. Siddika Songül Yalcin
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  2. Refia Gözdenur Savcı
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  3. Suzan Yalcin
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  4. Mehmet Ali Eryurt
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Contributions

Conceptualization: SSY; Methodology: SSY, RGS, MAE; Formal analysis: SSY, SY; Original draft preparation: SSY, RGS; review and editing: SSY, SY, MAE, final form: SSY, RGS, SY, MAE. All of the authors are responsible for reported research. They have approved the manuscript as submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siddika Songül Yalcin.

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Conflict of interest

There are no conflict of interest/competing interests. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethical Approval

Turkey Demographic Health Survey-Syrian Migrant Sample-2018 was approved by Hacettepe University Ethics Committee (35853172-100-E.00000245344). Official permission for secondary analysis of the collected DHS data was obtained from the Hacettepe University Institute of Population Studies in 2021. The current study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, General Data Protection Regulation, and Data Protection Act. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. This study is based on anonymized data and no identifable or individual data are present.

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Yalcin, S.S., Savcı, R.G., Yalcin, S. et al. Accuracy of Syrain Refugee Mothers’ Perceptions of Newborn’s Birth Size: Insights from a National Survey in Turkey. J Immigrant Minority Health 25, 1363–1373 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-023-01519-9

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