Abstract 11733: Racial Disparities in Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Pregnant Women in the United States

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy-related mortality has notably increased in the United States over the past 3 decades, with cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of mortality post-partum. Significant racial disparities have been noted in pregnancy-related mortality in the US. We sought to study contemporary trends and disparities in cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) among pregnant women in the US. Methods: We used the 2016-2020 natality database maintained by the CDC. We identified pregnant women with first live birth and known self-reported race (Black vs White). We explored overall prevalence (aggregated 2016-2020) and relative changes (between 2016 and 2020) in CMRFs: pre-pregnancy diabetes (Pre-DM), gestational diabetes (G-DM), pre-pregnancy hypertension (Pre-HTN), gestational hypertension (G-HTN), smoking, and obesity. Results: A total of 3,141,830 pregnancies in White women and 436,895 pregnancies in Black women were noted. Overall, Black mothers had higher rates of Pre-DM, Pre-HTN, G-HTN, and obesity, but lower rates of smoking and G-DM. From 2016-2020, there were significant increases in all CMRFs, except smoking, which decreased. There was a more significant increase in Pre-DM and G-HTN in Black mothers, while there were more significant increases in Pre-HTN and obesity in White mothers. A 15% relative increase in the prevalence of any CMRF was seen in both races. Conclusions: In this large analysis of pregnant mothers in the US, cardiometabolic risk factors were present in 35% of White mothers and 43% of Black mothers, with significant increases from 2016 to 2020 in both races. Future studies should focus on identifying mechanisms of the observed associations.