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Is race a risk factor or a risk marker for preterm delivery?
C A Blackmore1, C D Ferré, D L Rowley
1Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Ethnicity & Disease
|January 1, 1993
Summary
Chronic stress may explain racial disparities in preterm birth rates. This research identifies psychosocial and behavioral factors impacting pregnancy outcomes, suggesting race marks stress exposure, not a direct cause.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Sociomedical Sciences
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Racial disparities in preterm delivery persist between black and white women.
- Known risk factors inadequately explain these differences.
- Social class does not fully account for poor pregnancy outcomes in black women.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of chronic psychosocial stressors in preterm delivery among US black women.
- To propose and generate data for a psychosocial stress model explaining pregnancy outcomes in women of color.
- To identify specific psychosocial and behavioral risk factors with physiological impact on pregnancy.
Main Methods:
- Designed a research strategy to identify psychosocial and behavioral risk factors.
- Focused on factors differentially distributed between racial groups.
- Utilized a psychosocial stress model framework.
Main Results:
- Hypothesizes that chronic stress exposure adversely affects pregnancy outcomes in US black women.
- Suggests race is a marker for stress, not an independent risk factor for preterm delivery.
- Aims to elucidate complex interactions of social, environmental, and medical factors.
Conclusions:
- Psychosocial stressors may be a key driver of racial disparities in preterm birth.
- Further research is needed to validate the psychosocial stress model.
- Understanding these factors can inform targeted interventions for improved maternal and infant health outcomes.