Placenta previa: its relationship with race and the country of origin among Asian women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between placenta previa with maternal race and its variations by country of origin among Asian women.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
We analyzed data from a population-based retrospective cohort study of 16,751,627 pregnancies in the US. The data were derived from the national linked birth/infant mortality database for the period 1995-2000. Multiple logistic regressions were used to describe the relationship between placenta previa and race as well as country of origin among Asian women.


RESULTS
About 3.3 per 1,000 pregnancies were complicated with placenta previa among white women, while the corresponding figures for black women and women of other races were 3.0 and 4.5 per 1,000 pregnancies, respectively. The excess risk remained substantial and significant after adjustment for confounders for women of other races compared to white women. The frequencies of placenta previa among Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, Vietnamese and other Asian or Pacific Islander were 5.6, 5.1, 7.6, 4.5, 5.9, 4.4 and 4.4 per 1,000 pregnancies, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.39 to 2.15 among Asian women by country of origin, with the lowest for Japanese and Vietnamese and the highest for Filipino women in our study.


CONCLUSIONS
Asian women have excess risk of placenta previa compared with white women. Major variation exists in placenta previa risk among Asian women, with the lowest risk in Japanese and Vietnamese women and the highest risk in Filipino women.
OMNI Research Group, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. qyang@ohri.ca
Qiuying
Q
Yang
Shi
S
Wu Wen
Sharon
S
Caughey
Daniel
D
Krewski
Luming
L
Sun
Mark C
MC
Walker
D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010923:Placenta Previa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States