Risk of delivery complications among pregnant people experiencing housing insecurity

Housing insecurity is increasingly being recognized as an important social determinant of health. Pregnant individuals experiencing housing insecurity may represent a particularly vulnerable subset of this population, but few studies have examined this population nationally. In particular, racial and ethnic minority individuals may be at risk for poor outcomes within this group because of structural racism and discrimination. The introduction of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes related to social determinants of health represent a new opportunity to identify patients with housing insecurity nationally.

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of and delivery outcomes for pregnant people experiencing housing insecurity, both nationally and by race and ethnicity.

This was a retrospective cohort study using data from the 2016 to 2018 National Inpatient Sample. Delivery hospitalizations for people experiencing housing insecurity were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis code Z59. Among hospitals that coded at least 1 delivery for a patient with housing insecurity, logistic regression models were used to assess the odds of severe maternal morbidity associated with housing insecurity, adjusting for clinical risk and pregnancy characteristics.

Of 539,950 delivery hospitalizations, 1820 hospitalizations (0.3%) were for patients with housing insecurity. Compared to deliveries for patients with housing security, deliveries for patients with housing insecurity were more likely for patients who identified as Black (34.8% vs 18.1%; P<.001) and who had Medicaid insurance (83.5% vs 46.2%; P<.001). People with housing insecurity were more likely to have comorbidities and higher-risk pregnancies, including higher rates of substance use disorders (54.0% vs 6.9%), major mental health disorders (37.5% vs 8.7%), preeclampsia with severe features (7.4% vs 4.3%), and preterm birth <37 weeks gestation (23.7% vs 11.6%) (all P<.001). In regression analyses, patients with housing insecurity had more than twice the odds of severe maternal morbidity than patients with housing security during the delivery hospitalization (odds ratio, 2.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.75-2.68). After adjusting for clinical risk and pregnancy characteristics, the differences were attenuated overall (adjusted odds ratio, 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 0.94-1.47) and among racial and ethnic groups (White patients: adjusted odds ratio, 1.39; 95% confidence interval, 0.95-2.03; Black patients: adjusted odds ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 0.73-1.52; Hispanic patients: adjusted odds ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.84; Asian or Pacific Islander or Native American or other race patients: adjusted odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 0.45-2.58).

Pregnant individuals experiencing housing insecurity were more likely to be from groups that have been marginalized historically, had higher rates of comorbidities, and worse delivery outcomes. After risk adjustment, differences in the odds of severe maternal mortality were attenuated. Screening for housing insecurity may identify these patients earlier and connect them to services that could improve disparities in outcomes.