 Associations of maternal age- and parity-related factors with trends in low-birthweight rates: United States, 1980 through 2000Q. Yang, S. Greenland and W.D. Flanders American Journal of Public Health, 2006, vol. 96, issue 5, 856-861 Abstract: Objectives. We assessed the effects of changes in the maternal age-parity distribution and age- and parity-specific low-birthweight rates on low-birthweight trends in the United States. Methods. We used natality file data from 1980 through 2000 to assess very-low-birthweight and low-birthweight rates among singleton live-born infants. Results. Changes in age- and parity-specific low-birthweight rates were the main contributor to the overall trend in rates. However, changes in the age-parity distribution, primarily delayed childbearing, had a smaller but noticeable impact. The very-low-birthweight rate increased 27% among Black women, and changes in the age-parity distribution were associated with, on average, more than 20% of the increased rate during the 1990s. Among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women, on average, more than 10% of the rate increase observed during the 1990s was associated with changes in the age-parity distribution. Conclusions. Assuming minimal changes in age-specific rates, delayed childbearing may play an increasingly important role in low-birthweight trends in the United States. Date: 2006 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2004.049312_4 Access Statistics for this article American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association |
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