The Contribution of Maternal Age to Racial Disparities in Birthweight: a Multilevel Perspective

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2001 Oct 31

PMID 11684610

Citations 75

Authors

V A Rauh

H F Andrews

R S Garfinkel

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: This study assessed the contribution of age and other risk factors to racial disparities in rates of moderately low birthweight (MLBW; 1500-2499 g) and very low birthweight (VLBW; <1500 g).

Methods: Logistic regression models were developed to determine the effects on MLBW and VLBW of maternal age, race, and poverty, adjusting for birth order, smoking, substance abuse, marital status, and educational level. The sample consisted of 158 174 singleton births to US-born African American and White women in New York City between 1987 and 1993.

Results: The effects of maternal age on MLBW varied by race and poverty, with the most extreme effects among poor African American women. The effects of maternal age on VLBW also varied by race, but these effects were not moderated by poverty. Community poverty had a significant effect on MLBW among African American women, but no effect on VLBW. The adverse effect of older maternal age on MLBW and VLBW did not vary with community poverty.

Conclusions: Older maternal age is associated with reduced birthweight among infants born to African American women, and the age effect is exacerbated by individual poverty.

Citing Articles

Social and physical environment effects on toileting disability among older adults in India.

Fong J, Selvamani Y BMC Geriatr. 2024; 24(1):626.

PMID: 39044151 PMC: 11264434. DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-05198-5.

Regression with race-modifiers: towards equity and interpretability.

Kowal D Res Sq. 2024; .

PMID: 38645193 PMC: 11030512. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4158747/v1.

Regression with race-modifiers: towards equity and interpretability.

Kowal D medRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 38464140 PMC: 10925363. DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.04.23300033.

Determining Gentrification's Relationship to Birth Outcomes in Metropolitan California.

Beck A, Thomas K, Finch B, Gibbons J Hous Policy Debate. 2023; 33(1):107-128.

PMID: 37275319 PMC: 10237677. DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2022.2125334.

A comparative study on third trimester fetal biometric parameters with maternal age.

Poojari Y, Annapureddy P, Vijayan S, Kalidoss V, Mf Y, Pk S PeerJ. 2023; 11:e14528.

PMID: 36694822 PMC: 9867875. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14528.

References

Cabral H, Fried L, Levenson S, Amaro H, Zuckerman B . Foreign-born and US-born black women: differences in health behaviors and birth outcomes. Am J Public Health. 1990; 80(1):70-2. PMC: 1404553. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.80.1.70. View

Krieger N, Sidney S . Racial discrimination and blood pressure: the CARDIA Study of young black and white adults. Am J Public Health. 1996; 86(10):1370-8. PMC: 1380646. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.86.10.1370. View

Collins Jr J, David R . The differential effect of traditional risk factors on infant birthweight among blacks and whites in Chicago. Am J Public Health. 1990; 80(6):679-81. PMC: 1404719. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.80.6.679. View

Geronimus A . The weathering hypothesis and the health of African-American women and infants: evidence and speculations. Ethn Dis. 1992; 2(3):207-21. View

Starfield B, Shapiro S, Weiss J, Liang K, Ra K, Paige D . Race, family income, and low birth weight. Am J Epidemiol. 1991; 134(10):1167-74. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116020. View

Geronimus A . Black/white differences in the relationship of maternal age to birthweight: a population-based test of the weathering hypothesis. Soc Sci Med. 1996; 42(4):589-97. DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(95)00159-x. View

James S . Racial and ethnic differences in infant mortality and low birth weight. A psychosocial critique. Ann Epidemiol. 1993; 3(2):130-6. DOI: 10.1016/1047-2797(93)90125-n. View

Guyer B, Strobino D, Ventura S, Singh G . Annual summary of vital statistics-1994. Pediatrics. 1995; 96(6):1029-39. View

Williams D, Yu Y, Jackson J, Anderson N . Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health: Socio-economic Status, Stress and Discrimination. J Health Psychol. 2011; 2(3):335-51. DOI: 10.1177/135910539700200305. View

10.

Krieger N, Rowley D, Herman A, Avery B, PHILLIPS M . Racism, sexism, and social class: implications for studies of health, disease, and well-being. Am J Prev Med. 1993; 9(6 Suppl):82-122. View

11.

Kennedy B, Kawachi I, Glass R, Prothrow-Stith D . Income distribution, socioeconomic status, and self rated health in the United States: multilevel analysis. BMJ. 1998; 317(7163):917-21. PMC: 28675. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.317.7163.917. View

12.

Kleinman J, Kessel S . Racial differences in low birth weight. Trends and risk factors. N Engl J Med. 1987; 317(12):749-53. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM198709173171207. View

13.

Ahmed F . Urban-suburban differences in the incidence of low birthweight in a metropolitan black population. J Natl Med Assoc. 1989; 81(8):849-55. PMC: 2626051. View

14.

Collins Jr J, David R . Differences in neonatal mortality by race, income, and prenatal care. Ethn Dis. 1992; 2(1):18-26. View

15.

Mayer S, Jencks C . Growing up in poor neighborhoods: how much does it matter?. Science. 1989; 243(4897):1441-5. DOI: 10.1126/science.243.4897.1441. View

16.

Collins Jr J, Schulte N, DROLET A . Differential effect of ecologic risk factors on the low birthweight components of African-American, Mexican-American, and non-Latino white infants in Chicago. J Natl Med Assoc. 1998; 90(4):223-9. PMC: 2568226. View

17.

Kaufman J, Cooper R, McGee D . Socioeconomic status and health in blacks and whites: the problem of residual confounding and the resiliency of race. Epidemiology. 1997; 8(6):621-8. View

18.

Ventura S, Martin J, Curtin S, Mathews T . Report of final natality statistics, 1996. Mon Vital Stat Rep. 1998; 46(11 Suppl):1-99. View

19.

Geronimus A . To mitigate, resist, or undo: addressing structural influences on the health of urban populations. Am J Public Health. 2000; 90(6):867-72. PMC: 1446247. DOI: 10.2105/ajph.90.6.867. View

20.

Pittman J, Andrews H, Struening E . The use of zip coded population data in social area studies of service utilization. Eval Program Plann. 1985; 9(4):309-17. DOI: 10.1016/0149-7189(86)90045-5. View