Adolescent pregnancy: understanding the impact of age and race on outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the independent effects of maternal age and race/ethnicity on poor pregnancy outcomes, with and without controlling for other factors.


METHODS
Logistic regression analysis of 54,447 linked birth, fetal death, and infant death certificates in California from 1980-87.


RESULTS
Women of young maternal age (10-13 years) are approximately 2.5 times more likely to have a low birthweight infant and 3.4 times more likely to have a preterm birth than women of "prime" childbearing age. African-American women are 1.7 times more likely to have a low birthweight infant, and 2 times more likely to have a preterm birth than their white and Hispanic counterparts. The association of infant death with maternal age and race/ethnicity is statistically significant in the unadjusted models, however, those associations disappear completely when birthweight and gestational age are considered. Interactions between maternal age and race/ethnicity explained very little of the variability for any of the outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal age at delivery and race/ethnicity are independently and significantly associated with poor pregnancy outcomes such as low birthweight and premature births. However, young maternal age and race/ethnicity do not appear to interact in a manner that produces a differential effect on the birth outcomes assessed in this study. The incidence of infant mortality is unrelated to maternal age or race/ethnicity, after controlling for prematurity and low birthweight, underscoring the importance of intervention efforts aimed at their prevention.
DuPlessis
H M
HM
RAND, Health Sciences Program, Santa Monica, California 90407-2138, USA.
Bell
R
R
Richards
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000208:ethnology*; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People