Birth weight and economic growth data sets, The Rotunda (lying-in hospital), Dublin, 1869-1930, [2012]

The variables contained in the data sets are primarily concerned with perinatal outcomes and maternal health. A number of variables with respect to the social and economic status of the mothers and their families were also included (ie. Occupation, Marital status, Region). While all nine data sets are centered around these common themes and hold many variables in common, each data set has a unique combination of variables. The types of fields are wide-ranging but are primarily concerned with infant birth, maternal health, and socioeconomic status. The Dublin patients are a random sample of those found in the clinical records of the hospital. Case files were compiled from two sources, the Register of Patients, which included the administrative record of each patient, and the Master’s Ward Book, which noted the medical circumstances of each case. These records exist in continuous series during the years with which this study is concerned, and only minor changes occurred in the categories of information collected. Most of these documents were held by the Rotunda Hospital when they were consulted for this project, but all of them have now been transferred to the Public Record Office of Ireland in Dublin. As birth weights were first recorded in July 1869, 100 cases were selected for that year. In all subsequent years 200 cases were chosen. The preliminary data base consisted of 12,454 cases. The weight and length means in the sample are accurate to 84 grams and 0.4 centimeter at a confidence level of 95 percent本数据集收录的变量主要围绕围产结局（perinatal outcomes）与孕产妇健康两大核心主题展开。同时也纳入了反映产妇及其家庭社会经济状况的多项变量，例如职业、婚姻状况、居住区域等。尽管全部9个数据集均围绕上述共同主题构建，且共享大量变量，但每个数据集仍具备独有的变量组合。数据集涵盖的字段类型较为广泛，但核心仍聚焦于婴儿分娩、孕产妇健康与社会经济状况三大范畴。都柏林地区的研究对象为该医院临床记录中随机抽取的样本。病例档案源自两类数据源：一是患者登记册（包含每位患者的行政记录），二是主病房日志（记录每例病例的临床诊疗情况）。本研究涉及的年份区间内，上述记录均保持连续序列，仅在信息收集分类上存在小幅调整。本项目调研时，多数此类档案由隆德医院（Rotunda Hospital）保管，目前全部档案已移交至位于都柏林的爱尔兰公共档案馆（Public Record Office of Ireland）。由于自1869年7月起才开始记录新生儿出生体重，该年度仅选取了100例病例；后续所有年份均选取200例病例。初始数据库共包含12454例病例。在95%的置信水平下，样本的新生儿体重与身长均值的误差范围分别为84克与0.4厘米。