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Prematurity and low birth weight: geospatial analysis and recent trends
Nicholas Peterman1, Bradley Kaptur2, Morgan Lewis1
1Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, Champaign, USA.
Insights
Geospatial analysis revealed significant geographic clusters of prematurity and low birth weight across the U.S. Identifying these hotspots and coldspots can inform targeted public health interventions for improved neonatal outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Health and Epidemiology
- Geospatial Public Health Analysis
Background:
- Prematurity and low birth weight are critical indicators of neonatal health outcomes.
- Geographic variations in these conditions suggest underlying environmental or socioeconomic factors.
- Understanding spatial patterns is crucial for effective public health resource allocation.
Abstract:
Prematurity and low birth weight are of concern in neonatal health. In this work, geospatial analysis was performed to identify the existence of statistically significant clusters of prematurity and low birth weight using Moran's I. Data was obtained from March of Dimes and the National Center for Health Statistics for the years 2015 to 2019. Analysis demonstrated the presence of hotspot (High-High) and coldspot (Low-Low) geographic clusters of these variables in regions across the United States. Additionally, factorial ANOVA was performed, and revealed the significance of demographic variables of interest. Given the strong relationship between these two variables, regions that are hotspots for one variable, but not the other, are of particular interest for further study.
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