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INCOME INCONGRUITY, RACE AND PRETERM BIRTH (PTB)
Citation:
MESSER, L. C., J. S. KAUFMAN, AND N. DOLE. INCOME INCONGRUITY, RACE AND PRETERM BIRTH (PTB). Presented at Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiological Research, Seattle, WA, June 20 - 21, 2006.
Description:
Previous research using birth records has found income incongruity associated with adverse birth outcomes. The effects of negative income incongruity (reporting lower household income than the census tract median household income) on PTB (<37 weeks completed gestation) are examined using self-report income for white (number [n]=424) and black (n=566) non-Hispanic women living in 263 Wake County NC census tracts (1995-2005). Geocoded Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition cohort (n=1056) and year 2000 U.S. census data were analyzed in race-stratified logistic regression models. Income was collected during 2nd trimester telephone interview; gestational age was calculated using early ultrasound and reported last menstrual period. Negative income incongruity was associated with maternal characteristics. Black women were less likely than white women to live in incongruous tracts (Odds Ratio [OR]=0.6; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.4, 0.8). White women of low education (= 12 years) were more likely to live in incongruous tracts (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.0) than less educated black women (OR: 1.3; 95% CI: 0.9, 1.9). Being an older white women (30-34 and 35+) was protective against negative income incongruity (OR=0.4; 95% CI 0.2, 0.9 and OR= 0.4; 95%CI: 0.2, 1.0, respectively) and being an unmarried white woman was associated with decreased odds of living in an incongruous tract (OR=0.4; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.7); no association for age or marital was observed for black women. In models adjusted for maternal age, marital status and education, living in wealthier tracts than reported income was not associated with increased odds of PTB for white women (OR=0.7; 95% CI: 0.3, 1.6) but was suggestive of increased odds for black women (OR=1.5; 95% CI: 0.8, 3.0). Unlike previous research that relies on maternal characteristics to approximate income incongruity, this work finds little evidence for an association between self-reported income incongruity and PTB.