Abstract
Objective
To ascertain the relation of men’s lifelong class status (as measured by neighborhood income) to the rates of early (< 34 weeks) and late (34–36 weeks) preterm birth (PTB).
Methods
Stratified and multilevel, multivariable binomial regression analyses were computed on the Illinois transgenerational birth-file of infants (born 1989–1991) and their parents (born 1956–1976) with appended U.S. census income information. The median family income of men’s census tract residence at two-time periods were utilized to assess lifelong class status (defined by residence in either the lower or upper half of neighborhood income distribution).
Results
In Cook County Illinois, the preterm rate for births (n = 8115) to men with a lifelong lower class status was twice that of births (n = 10,330) to men with a lifelong upper class status: 13% versus 6.0%, RR = 2.2 (2.0, 2.4). This differential was greatest in early PTB rates: 3.9% versus 1.4%, RR = 3.0 (2.5, 3.7). The relation of men’s lifelong class status to both PTB components persisted among non-teens, married, college-educated, and non-Latina White women, respectively. The adjusted (controlling for maternal demographic characteristics) RR of early and late PTB for men with a lifelong lower (versus upper) class status were 1.4 (1.1, 1.9) and 1.2 (1.0, 1.4), respectively. The population attributable risk of early PTB for men’s lifelong lower class status equaled 16%.
Conclusions
Men’s lifelong lower (versus upper) class status is a novel risk factor for early preterm birth regardless of maternal demographic characteristics. This intriguing finding has public health relevance.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alio, A. P., Kornosky, J. L., Mbah, A. K., Marty, P. J., & Salihu, H. M. (2010). The impact of paternal involvement on feto-infant morbidity among Whites, Blacks and Hispanics. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 14, 735–741.
Beck, S., Wojdyla, D., Say, L., Pilar Betran, A., Meialdi, M., Harris Requejo, J., et al. (2010). The worldwide incidence of preterm birth: A systematic review of maternal mortality and morbidity. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88, 31–38.
Blumenshine, P., Egerter, M., & Braveman, P. (2011). Men’seducation: An independent marker of risk for preterm birth. Maternal Child Health Journal, 15, 60–67.
Braveman, P. A., Cubbin, C., Egerter, S., Williams, D. R., & Pamuk, E. (2010). Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: What the patterns tell us. American Journal of Public Health, 100, S186–S196.
Collins, J., Rankin, K., & David, R. (2016). Paternal lifelong socioeconomic position and low birth weight rates: Relevance to the African-American women’s birth outcome disadvantage. Maternal Child Health Journal, 20, 1759–1766.
Croteau, A., & Marcoux, B. C. (2007). Work activity, preventive measured, and the risk of preterm delivery. American Journal of Epidemiology, 166, 951–965.
David, R., & Collins, J. (2014). Layers of inequality: Power, policy and health. American Journal of Public Health, 104, S7–S10.
David, R., & Messer, L. (2011). Reducing disparities: Race, class, and the social determinants of health. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 15, 1–3.
David, R. J., Rankin, K., Lee, K., Prachand, K., Love, C., & Collins, J. W. (2010). The Illinois transgenerational birth file: Life course analysis of birth outcomes using vital records and census data over decades. Maternal Child Health Journal, 14, 121–132.
Garfield, C. F., Duncan, G., Rutsohn, J., et al. (2014). A longitudinal study of paternal mental health during transition to fatherhood as young adults. Pediatrics, 133, 836–843.
Issacs, S. I., & Schroeder, S. A. (2004). Class-the ignored determinant of the nation’s health. The New England Journal of Medicine, 351, 1137–1142.
Kochanek, K. D., Murphy, S. L., Xu, J. Q., & Arias, E. (2014). Mortality in the United States, 2013. NCHS data brief, No. 178. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
MacDorman, M., & Mathews, T. F. (2010). Behind international rankings of infant mortality: How the US compares with Europe. International Journal of Health Services, 40, 577–588.
MacDorman, M. F., Mathews, T. J., Mohangoo, A. D., & Zeitlin, J. (2014). International comparisons of infant mortality and related factors United States and Europe, 2010. National vital statistics reports; vol 63, no 5. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Martin, J. A., Hamilton, B. E., Osterman, M. J., Curtin, S. C., & Mathews, T. J. (2015). Division of vital statistics: Final data for 2013. National Vital Statistics Reports, 64(1), 1–64.
Martin, J., Kung, H., Matthews, T., et al. (2008). Annual summary of vital statistics: 2006. Pediatrics, 121, 788–801.
Martin, J. A., Osterman, M. J. K., & Sutton, P. D. (2010). Are preterm births on the decline in the United States? Recent data from the National Vital Statistics System. NCHS data brief, no 39. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Meyer, J., Warren, N., & Reisine, S. (2007). Job control, substantive complexity, and risk for low birth weight and preterm delivery: An analysis from a state birth registry. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 50, 664–675.
Misra, D., Caldwell, C., Young, A., & Abelson, S. (2010). Do men matter? Paternal contributions to birth outcomes and racial disparities. American Journal of Obsetrics and Gynecology, 202, 99–100.
Muglia, L. J., & Katz, M. (2010). The enigma of spontaneous preterm birth. New England Journal of Medicine, 362, 529–535.
Rothman, K., & Greenland, S. (1998). Modern epidemiology. New York: Lipponcott, Williams and Wilkins.
SAS Institute Inc. (2000). SAS 9.1.3 SAS/STAT. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc., 2000-004.2.
Schroeder, S. A. (2007). We can do better-improving the health of the American people. New England Journal of Medicine, 357, 1221–1228.
Shah, P. (2010). On behalf of the Knowledge Synthesis Group on determinants of prematurity/low birth weight births. Paternal factors and low birth weight, preterm, and small for gestational age births: A systematic review. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 202, 103.
Shah, P., Zao, J., & Ali, S. (2011). Maternal marital status and birth outcome: A systemic review and meta-analysis. Maternal Child Health Journal, 15, 1097–1109.
Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (1999). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
West, J., Lawlor, D. A., Farily, L., & Wright, J. (2014). Differences in socioeconomic position, lifestyle and health-related pregnancy characteristics between Pakistani and White British women in the Born in Bradford prospective cohort study: The influence of the woman’s, her partner’s and their parents’ place of birth. British Medical Journal Open, 4, e004805. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-004805.
Funding
Funding was provided by March of Dimes Foundation (Grant No. 21-FY16-111).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Collins, J.W., Rankin, K.M., Desisto, C. et al. Early and Late Preterm Birth Rates Among US-Born Urban Women: The Effect of Men’s Lifelong Class Status. Matern Child Health J 23, 1621–1626 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02816-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02816-2