• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

information for practice

news, new scholarship & more from around the world


advanced search
  • gary.holden@nyu.edu
  • @ Info4Practice
  • Archive
  • About
  • Help
  • Browse Key Journals
  • RSS Feeds

Behavioral Influences on Preterm Birth: Integrated Analysis of the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study

Abstract  

Most previous studies of preterm birth have considered risk factors in isolation rather than examining the collective impact
of multiple candidate determinants. In order to examine the combined impact of a set of behavioral risk factors on the risk
of preterm birth, we analyzed data collected for the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study on a range of sociodemographic,
behavioral, and related factors. Women who received prenatal care at selected clinics in central North Carolina and gave birth
in the period 1995–2005 were recruited into a prospective cohort study, with 4,251 women providing the required information
on risk factors and pregnancy outcome. A number of demographic and behavioral attributes were modestly associated with preterm
birth, with odds ratios of 1.3–1.5, including age >35, African-American ethnicity, height of 63 inches or less, parity 2+,
and delivery at the academic medical center. Despite weak associations for individual risk factors, changes in a constellation
of behaviors during pregnancy predict substantial shifts in the risk of preterm birth, suggesting a reduction from 8 to 3%
preterm among those with a low-risk baseline profile, and a reduction from 18 to 7% preterm among those with a high-risk baseline
profile. While inferences are limited by the incomplete range of available predictors, uncertainty regarding whether observed
associations are causal, and substantial challenges in changing component behaviors, the possibility of substantial reduction
in risk merits more serious consideration of whether behavioral interventions could markedly reduce the risk of preterm birth.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Pages 1-13
  • DOI 10.1007/s10995-011-0895-5
  • Authors
    • David A. Savitz, Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Box G-S-121-2, Providence, RI 02912, USA
    • Quaker Harmon, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    • Anna Maria Siega-Riz, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    • Amy H. Herring, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    • Nancy Dole, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    • John M. Thorp, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
    • Journal Maternal and Child Health Journal
    • Online ISSN 1573-6628
    • Print ISSN 1092-7875
Posted in: Journal Article Abstracts on 10/15/2011 | Link to this post on IFP |
Share

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Category RSS Feeds

  • Calls & Consultations
  • Clinical Trials
  • Funding
  • Grey Literature
  • Guidelines Plus
  • History
  • Infographics
  • Journal Article Abstracts
  • Meta-analyses - Systematic Reviews
  • Monographs & Edited Collections
  • News
  • Open Access Journal Articles
  • Podcasts
  • Video

© 1993-2023 Dr. Gary Holden. All rights reserved.

gary.holden@nyu.edu
@Info4Practice