Effect of Maternal Race, Residential Rurality, and Social Vulnerability on Critical Congenital Heart Defect Risk

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatrics
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Congenital heart defects (CHD) are a significant cause of infant mortality and morbidity.
• The etiology of many CHDs remains unknown, suggesting multifactorial causes.
• Maternal and environmental factors may play a role in CHD development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between maternal race, lived environment, and critical CHD in infants.
• To explore the impact of residential rurality and Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) on critical CHD risk.
• To identify environmental predictors for critical CHD to inform public health interventions.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, case-control study using secondary data analysis.
• Comparison of infants with critical CHD (N=199) against a control group without CHD (N=548).
• Assessment of maternal race, residential rurality, and SVI using bivariate and multilevel regression models.

Main Results:

• Bivariate analyses showed significant associations between critical CHD and residential rurality, overall SVI, and SVI themes.
• Multilevel logistic regression identified living in rural areas as a strong predictor for critical CHD (OR=7.32, p<0.001).
• Maternal race was assessed but not detailed as a primary predictor in the provided abstract summary.

Conclusions:

• Living environment, specifically rurality, is significantly associated with an increased risk of critical CHD.
• Findings underscore the need for further research into environmental determinants of CHD.
• Addressing health disparities related to the lived environment is crucial for reducing the burden of critical CHD.