Population-Level Correlates of Preterm Delivery among Black and White Women in the U.S

OBJECTIVE This study examined the ability of social, demographic, environmental and health-related factors to explain geographic variability in preterm delivery among black and white women in the US and whether these factors explain black-white disparities in preterm delivery. METHODS We examined county-level prevalence of preterm delivery (20-31 or 32-36 weeks gestation) among singletons born 1998-2002. We conducted multivariable linear regression analysis to estimate the association of selected variables with preterm delivery separately for each preterm/race-ethnicity group. RESULTS The prevalence of preterm delivery varied two- to three-fold across U.S. counties, and the distributions were strikingly distinct for blacks and whites. Among births to blacks, regression models explained 46% of the variability in county-level risk of delivery at 20-31 weeks and 55% for delivery at 32-36 weeks (based on R-squared values). Respective percentages for whites were 67% and 71%. Models included socio-environmental/demographic and health-related variables and explained similar amounts of variability overall. CONCLUSIONS Much of the geographic variability in preterm delivery in the US can be explained by socioeconomic, demographic and health-related characteristics of the population, but less so for blacks than whites.