Background: Birth defects are structural or functional anomalies, caused by genetic or environmental factors or both. This is a major global concern, with 7.9 million affected yearly causing significant mortality and disability. In the Philippines, congenital anomalies are in the top ten causes of infant and child mortality for the past six decades. Surveillance of birth defects will generate data to help in making health policies to prevent and address them, but a surveillance system remains to be established.
Methods: Patients with at least one major structural birth defect seen in the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) from March 2013 to March 2014 were included. These were classified based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, version 10 (ICD-10) and further categorized according to presentation [i.e., isolated, part of a multi-malformed case (MMC), part of a recognizable syndrome or part of a chromosomal syndrome and by organ systems].
Results: There were a total of 153,587 patients, of which, 124,653 (81%) were out-patient consults. At least one major structural birth defect was reported in 690 (0.45%) individuals. The largest proportion was musculoskeletal anomalies (19.1%), followed by digestive system anomalies (18.4%), other anomalies (13.9%), genital organ anomalies (11.4%) and nervous system anomalies (10.3%). Among the musculoskeletal anomalies, anomalies of the feet were the most numerous (28%), comprising mostly of clubfeet. Majority of the musculoskeletal anomalies was associated with MMC (31.7%).
Conclusions: In this study, the top five birth defects are: multiple congenital anomalies, Down syndrome, defects of the large intestine, congenital deformities of the feet, and other malformations of the intestine. Results show that birth defects are indeed prevalent and are contributory to the infant and child morbidity in the country. This study emphasizes the need for a more organized surveillance system.
