652: Paternal influence on preterm birth racial disparities

Abstract

MetroHealth Medical Center Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio OBJECTIVE: To determine if racial disparities in preterm birth are influenced by the race of the father. STUDY DESIGN: Deliveries with complete information on maternal and paternal race, gestational age, and maternal education were obtained from 2004 birth certificate data. Deliveries were grouped by race of the mother and father: both white (WW), both black (BB), white mother and black father (WB), black mother and white father (BW). Rates of preterm birth (PTB) 37 weeks were calculated for each racial combination. Rates for each racial combination were stratified by maternal high school education or maternal high school education as a marker for social economic status (SES). Chi square testing and Mantel-Haenszel tests were used to test for significance. RESULTS: 2,292,499 deliveries met study criteria (1,888,807 WW), (52,213 WB), (14,411 BW), (337,068 BB). Overall, 12.04% of deliveries were PTB. PTB varied by race. Rates were lowest for WW (11.15%) and highest for BB (16.89%) (figure p .0001). Rates for WB (12.2%) and BW (14.9%) couples fell in between BB and WW couples. When stratified by maternal education, PTB rates were higher in mothers with less education (OR 1.14 p .0002). However, the relative order of PTB among racial groups remained the same within each educational strata.