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Neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth among non-Hispanic black and white women in eight geographic areas in the United States
Citation:
O'Campo, P., J. G. Burke, J. Culhane, I. T. Elo, J. Eyster, C. Holzman, L. C. Messer, J. S. Kaufman, AND B. A. Laraia. Neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth among non-Hispanic black and white women in eight geographic areas in the United States. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 167(2):155-163, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
to examine neighborhood socioeconomic effects on health
Description:
Disparities in preterm birth by race and ethnic group have been demonstrated in the United States. Recent research focuses on the impact of neighborhood environmental context on racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes. The authors utilized vital records birth certificate and U.S. census data from eight geographic areas in four states (Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania) to examine the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth among non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black women. Models were adjusted for maternal age and education and specific attention was paid to racial and geographic differences in the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and preterm birth. As expected, the preterm birth rates were substantially higher for Non-Hispanic Blacks (10.42% to 15.97%) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites (5.77% to 9.13%) and neighborhood deprivation scores varied substantially across the eight areas. A significant association was found between neighborhood deprivation and risk of preterm birth; adjusted summary odds ratios comparing the 1st to the 5th quintile of the deprivation score for non-Hispanic Whites was 1.57 (95% CI: 1.41 to 1.74) and for non-Hispanic Blacks it was 1.15 (95% CI: 1.08 to 1.23). These results show that increased neighborhood deprivation is significantly associated with increased risk of preterm birth among both Non-Hispanic White and Black women. Although the research described in this article has been partially supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through CR83323601 to the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, it has not been subjected to Agency review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred. Keywords: neighborhood; social environment; neighborhood deprivation; racial disparities; preterm birth; multilevel modeling
