Brandeis University, 415 South Street MS035, Waltham, MA, 02454-9110, USA.
, Alabaster, USA.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2020 Apr;7(2):290-297. doi: 10.1007/s40615-019-00657-x. Epub 2019 Nov 25.
Preterm delivery occurs at extraordinarily higher rates among Black women than among women of any other race or ethnicity. For those children who survive, many face a lifetime of health and developmental challenges as well as difficulties in school and life. Previous studies have provided substantive evidence that the preterm delivery disparity experienced by Black women is associated with ongoing distress caused by racism. Our study examines rates of preterm delivery for Black women in the USA to determine the level of risk associated with living in specific states. Using a logistic regression model, we examined the impact of the delivery state, controlling for known clinical, economic, and demographic risk factors. We found that 32 of the 35 states included in our analysis were associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of preterm delivery among Black women, as compared to the state with the lowest preterm delivery rate for Black women. These findings allowed us to organize states into a continuum of preterm delivery risk. Because of the harmful effects of preterm delivery and its disproportionate impact among Black women and infants, we recommend that a measure of preterm delivery be included in any state plan to assess, intervene in, and monitor racial disparities.
早产在黑人女性中的发生率远高于其他任何种族或族裔的女性。对于那些幸存下来的孩子来说，他们面临着一生的健康和发育挑战，以及在学校和生活中的困难。先前的研究提供了实质性的证据，表明黑人女性经历的早产差异与持续的种族主义造成的痛苦有关。我们的研究检查了美国黑人女性的早产率，以确定与生活在特定州相关的风险水平。我们使用逻辑回归模型，检查了分娩州的影响，控制了已知的临床、经济和人口统计学风险因素。我们发现，在我们分析的 35 个州中，有 32 个州与黑人女性早产的风险显著增加有关，而黑人女性早产率最低的州则没有这种关系。这些发现使我们能够将各州按早产风险的连续体进行组织。由于早产的有害影响及其在黑人女性和婴儿中的不成比例的影响，我们建议在任何州的计划中纳入早产衡量标准，以评估、干预和监测种族差异。
