title: Do biological, sociodemographic, and behavioral characteristics explain racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births?
abstract: Many studies find racial/ethnic disparities in a diverse set of birth outcomes. However few empirical studies have examined the existence and possible explanations for racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births using a diverse set of racial/ethnic categories and a nationally representative sample of births. This research fills that gap. Using data from the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), this research first explores the distribution of biological, sociodemographic, and behavioral characteristics of mothers and infants based on seven categories of maternal race/ethnicity. Next, multivariable logistic regression models are estimated in a nested manner to test for possible explanations for racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births. Lastly, race-stratified models are estimated to better elucidate the mechanism leading to racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births. Results from the chi-square tests of significance for racial/ethnic differences indicate that all variables used in this analysis, except for infant's gender, differ significantly based on maternal race/ethnicity. Results from the full multivariable logistic regression model finds that the only racial/ethnic disparity found in preterm births is observed for infants born to Native American mothers compared to non-Hispanic white mothers, once all variables are controlled for in the model. Race-stratified models indicate that maternal health complications and prenatal care adequacy offer the most potential in explaining remaining racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births. Results from this research support the need to increase access to appropriate and timely prenatal care for women of all races/ethnicities in an effort to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at San Antonio, Demography and Organization Studies, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA. johnelle.sparks@utsa.edu
authors.forename: P Johnelle
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Sparks
mesh_terms: D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000208:ethnology*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People