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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Urban violence and African-American pregnancy outcome: an ecologic study
1Division of Neonatology-#45, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
Objectives:
To ascertain the extent to which residence in violent communities is an independent risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes among impoverished (census tract median family income < $10,000/year) African-American mothers.
Design:
A cross-sectional study was performed.
Methods:
We performed multivariate analyses on 1983 Illinois vital records, Chicago Police Department violent crime rates, and 1980 United States Census income data.
Results:
African-American mothers who resided in the most violent communities had a low birth weight rate of 16% compared to 12% for infants (N = 315) with mothers who lived in the least violent communities; odds ratio = 1.5 (1.0-2.1). The proportion of small-for-gestational-age infants was substantially elevated in mothers who resided in the most violent communities compared to mothers who lived in the least violent communities: 7% vs. 3%; odds ratio = 2.6 (1.5-2.1). In multivariate logistic regression models that controlled for individual risk factors, the adjusted odds ratios for low birth weight and small-for-gestational-age infants among mothers who resided in the most (compared to the least) violent communities were 1.1 (0.9-1.2) and 1.5 (1.1-2.1), respectively.
Conclusion:
We conclude that a community's violent crime rate is associated with intrauterine growth retardation among infants born to African-American women.
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